PSG must pay former star Kylian Mbappé 60 million euros

Since Kylian Mbappé’s move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2024, a long running court battle between the club and the player has been ongoing, with the European Champions today finally being forced to pay the star’s wages (the unpaid segment was in the Spring of 2024, just before Mbappé’s departure, in the first season of Luis Enrique’s tenure).

It resolves what had become an ugly legal battle between the club and arguably their greatest ever player – and confirms the impression that tensions are high between club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and the Frenchman.

PSG lose legal battle against Kylian Mbappé

Mbappé’s legal team were understandably satisfied with the ruling, stating that: ‘We are satisfied with this ruling. This is what you could expect when salaries went unpaid’. As for PSG, they issued a club statement accepting the ruling, and expressing a desire to move on ‘towards the future’.

So for now, a shock return to PSG for Mbappé seems very far from ever being possible. The Frenchman has adapted well to life in Madrid, scoring 48 La Liga goals in only 51 games, although there is a prevailing narrative that his exclusion from the Parisian squad strengthened them, leading to their historic European glory last season.

Despite no longer having a single player who is capable of reproducing Mbappé’s extraordinary goal scoring feats (although Ousmane Dembélé was admittedly prolific last season), there is a newfound sense of balance in the squad, with a fluid and hard working front three being noted as a key component of their successes since his departure.

The nature of Mbappé’s departure, on a free transfer following the expiration of a two-year contract extension, was also subject to some scrutiny from Parisian fans, some of whom felt as though Mbappé had betrayed them by choosing to leave on a fee. The aforementioned legal battle, that had been dragging on for some time, will have done nothing to soften this impression.

Looking forwards, PSG face Flamengo in the final of the FIFA Intercontinental cup tomorrow, and will hope that the news about this court ruling will not overshadow what could be a completion to historical year for the club.

They look to join Barcelona in 2009 and Bayern Munich in 2020 as the only European teams to ever win six trophies in one calendar year, which would be a truly incredible achievement, were it to take place. As for Mbappé, he has already scored a remarkable 62 goals this calendar year, and could look to strengthen that tally even further in Real Madrid's remaining fixtures.