- Kylian Mbappe left PSG for Real Madrid on a free transfer over the summer
- Club's record goalscorer claims he is owed €55m in unpaid wages and bonuses
- PSG have rejected the decision of French league's appeals board
Paris Saint-Germain have been ordered by the governing body of the French top flight to pay Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe the €55m (£45.8m) which he claims to be owed in unpaid wages and bonuses.
Mbappe left PSG in acrimonious circumstances over the summer, signing for Real Madrid on a free transfer after letting his contract expire. The French forward claims that he was not paid the final three months of his salary and is still entitled to the last portion of a loyalty bonus in his PSG deal.
The reigning Ligue 1 champions emphatically dispute Mbappe's demands, arguing that they had secured a verbal agreement with the player to waive these sums. The legal commission of the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) - the governing body which runs France's top flight - recommended that Mbappe enter into mediation with PSG last month. The 25-year-old bluntly rejected this offer.
The LFP's appeals board has now ruled in favour of Mbappe. "[PSG] must pay him the parts of his salary he is claiming," the institution revealed to AP News. "This decision is not subject to [further] appeal, but can be raised before the executive committee of the FFF [French Football Federation]."
PSG have once again challenged this verdict.
The French giants have subsequently revealed that they will be "forced to bring the case before the competent courts".
"What is in debate, and will ultimately be heard before an appropriate tribunal, is that the original contract was legally amended in August 2023 relating to the 2024/25 season, and also fully recognised by the player including in January 2024 - until the player then decided to renege all his commitments upon leaving the club," a PSG spokesperson said, as quoted by Reuters.
"As a matter of law and fact, the player has made clear, repeated public and private commitments that the club simply asks are honoured, with the player being afforded unprecedented benefits by the club over seven years in Paris.
"The club hopes these basic commitments will simply be respected, knowing that the club will be forced to have the player's bad faith judged by the competent courts if the player regrettably seeks to pursue this incomprehensibly damaging dispute, for himself and for French football, further."
