Paris is demanding 440 million euros from the player… who is demanding 243 million from his former club

A hearing regarding the request to reclassify Kylian Mbappé’s contract with PSG as a permanent contract took place on Monday at the Paris industrial court.

A game of ping-pong in a courtroom costing hundreds of millions of euros. Attacked at the Paris industrial court by Kylian Mbappé, absent from court on Monday 17 November, Paris Saint-Germain responded through its lawyers, accusing its former player of committing “lose luck” following his free and therefore uncompensated departure to Real Madrid in the summer of 2024.

Faced with the striker’s demand of 243 million euros, PSG demanded 440 million euros from him. This amount is included “20 million for image damage, 60 million for bad faith in the implementation of the agreement dated August 2023, 180 million for concealment of this agreement, and 180 million for loss of player transfer opportunities”detailed to AFP Renaud Semerdjian, one of PSG’s seven board members.

PSG’s argument pleads a “lose luck” based on the fact that the player rejected an offer from Saudi club Al-Hilal of 300 million euros in the summer before his contract expired. “On July 22 (2023), a club in Saudi Arabia offered to buy Kylian Mbappé for 300 million euros. A proposal valid until July 25 midnight. But I never saw it (this offer) on my table, it was never conveyed to my players”answered Me Delphine Verheyden, Kylian Mbappé’s historic lawyer.

The player had just been dropped from the group by the club when the players and staff left for a tour of Asia. The decision was motivated by his refusal to extend his contract in Paris beyond June 2024. But after 24 days spent in the “attic” of unwanted players, Kylian Mbappé finally returned to the group and played his final season in the capital, under the orders of Luis Enrique.

PSG confirmed that this recovery was carried out following an agreement between the two parties which stipulated that the player had to hand over part of the amount due at the end of his contract, in order to maintain the club’s financial health. A “fantasy”according to Mbappé’s camp, which decided to take the matter to the industrial court on April 10.

The man who is now in the Real Madrid uniform is demanding in particular a bonus of 55 million euros and unpaid salaries. Kylian Mbappé’s advisers calculated that if he obtained the reclassification of his contract from CDD to CDI, in addition to the losses suffered, the club’s total debt would amount to more than 240 million euros.

At the Paris industrial courthouse, the Paris-SG lawyers, arriving in large numbers, asked the council to relinquish the matter in favor of the Paris court, which had previously been seized, for the same reasons. The request was rejected. The industrial tribunal’s decision will be discretionary and may not be taken for several weeks.