Mbappé rejects mediation in $60M PSG pay feud

Kylian Mbappé is not ready to compromise with Paris Saint-Germain.

The France superstar rejected a mediation offer by the French soccer league’s legal commission on Wednesday in his dispute with his former club over wages and bonuses.

Mbappé’s representatives met with PSG officials in Paris after the France superstar asked the commission to get involved. Mbappé, who joined Real Madrid this summer on a free transfer, says PSG owes him €55 million (around $60 million).

In a statement to The Associated Press, Mbappé’s representatives said the player asked the commission to take note of the non-payment of three months’ salary and the last third of a loyalty bonus.

“The eventuality of a mediation was mentioned this morning,” the statement read. “This possibility was rejected during the meeting by the player’s representative. A mediation would be useless to record a lack of payment that would be seen from a simple analysis of the player’s payslip.”

PSG, who said they were pleased with the two-hour hearing at the commission on Wednesday, said in a statement they recalled that Mbappé had formerly made “clear, repeated public and private commitments that must be respected, having been afforded unprecedented benefits by the club over seven fantastic years in Paris.”

The Ligue 1 champions have argued that they do not owe money to the World Cup winner under an agreement when Mbappé was sidelined ahead of the 2023-24 season — following his decision not to prolong his contract with the club — with the player allegedly stipulating that he would relinquish bonuses over his reintegration into the team.

PSG said that the legal commission recommended “mediation between the parties,” which the club said it had been seeking for months.

“The Commission has now invited the player to consider the mediation process,” a PSG spokesperson said.

The player’s representatives did not say what action they will now take. In light of the current deadlock, it’s likely the case will ultimately be settled by an employment court.

Mbappé’s relationship with PSG ended amid deep tensions during his final season at the club.

PSG felt let down by Mbappé after offering him the most lucrative contract in the club’s history when he signed a new deal in 2022. But Mbappé was frustrated because he felt promises to sign key players were not kept.

When he signed the new deal, he was paraded in front of fans holding up a jersey with 2025 on it. Mbappé was reportedly annoyed about this because the contract was until 2024 with the option for an extra year.

Mbappé stunned PSG in June last year by informing the club he would not take the option for an extra year. With his contract effectively into its final year, PSG were put in the position of needing to transfer Mbappé to avoid losing him for free when the contract expired.

His PSG career could have ended in the summer of 2023 amid a tense transfer standoff. After telling the club he would not extend his contract for an extra year, Mbappé was left off a preseason tour to Japan and South Korea and forced to train with fringe players. PSG said they would rather move him than let the player leave for free in 2024, but he rejected a €300 million move to Saudi team Al-Hilal.

PSG left Mbappé out of the team’s opening league game of that season as the standoff continued, but eventually let him return to the lineup after “constructive and positive talks” between the two parties, PSG said at the time.

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this story.