PSG confirm they will NOT appeal decision forcing club to pay Kylian Mbappe eye-watering settlement – as ugly legal battle finally ends

PSG have chosen not to appeal the court decision ordering the club to pay Kylian Mbappe £52.5million.

The ugly dispute between the striker, who now plays for Real Madrid having left Paris in 2024, started 18 months ago. 

He alleged that he did not receive bonuses and wages from his final season at PSG. 

Mbappe had been seeking £231.5million from the French giants after the protracted dispute reached a Paris labour court last November.

In retaliation, PSG were counter-suing the 26-year-old for £211m. But that court reached a verdict, ordering PSG to pay the France captain £52.5m at the end of last year. 

PSG were considering appealing the verdict but on Friday announced: ‘In a spirit of responsibility and in order to put a definitive end to a procedure that has gone on for far too long, the club has chosen not to prolong this dispute. 

‘PSG is now resolutely focused on the future, concentrated on its sporting project and collective success.’

And the club’s lawyer added: ‘Contrary to the false claims of the player and his entourage, the club has fulfilled all its obligations, both in the publication of the ruling and in the full payment of the amounts owed.’

The year-and-a-half legal battle had been an unfortunate end to the relationship between player and club that had soured even before he left for Real Madrid on a free transfer. 

PSG would have had little chance of success on appeal after the Ligue de Football Professionnel and civil courts both ruled in the striker’s favour. 

The court found that PSG had failed to pay three months of Mbappe’s salary, an ethics bonus and a signing bonus due under his employment contract.

Those sums were recognised as due by two decisions of the French Professional Football League (LFP) in September and October 2024, and the judges said PSG had not produced any written agreement showing Mbappe had waived his entitlement.

The judges rejected PSG’s arguments that Mbappe should forfeit his unpaid wages entirely, but also dismissed several of the player’s additional claims, including allegations of concealed work, moral harassment and breach of the employer’s duty of safety.

The court did not view Mbappe’s fixed-term contract as a permanent one, a decision that limited the scale of potential compensation related to dismissal and notice pay.

PSG had argued that Mbappe (pictured in 2022 alongside CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi) acted disloyally by concealing for nearly a year his intention not to renew his contract but ended up having to pay him £52.5million 

PSG had argued that Mbappe acted disloyally by concealing for nearly a year his intention not to renew his contract, preventing the club from securing a transfer fee similar to the £165.7m they paid to sign him from Monaco in 2017. 

The relationship between the 2018 World Cup winner and the reigning European champion turned bitter when Mbappe decided in 2023 not to extend his contract, which was set to expire in summer 2024.

This deprived the club of a significant transfer fee despite having offered him the most lucrative contract in club history when he signed a new deal in 2022. He was subsequently sidelined from a pre-season tour and forced to train with fringe players. He missed the opening league game but returned to the line-up for a final season after discussions with the club – talks that are central to the dispute.

The club accused Mbappe of backing out of an August 2023 agreement that allegedly included a pay reduction should he leave on a free transfer, an arrangement PSG said was meant to protect its financial stability.

They also claimed that Mbappe hid his decision not to extend his contract for nearly 11 months, from July 2022 to June 2023, preventing the club from arranging a transfer and causing major financial harm – thus accuse him of violating contractual obligations and the principles of good faith and loyalty.

Mbappe’s camp insisted PSG has never produced evidence that the striker agreed to forego any payment.

They also said the dispute concerned the strict application of French labour law and unpaid remuneration, rather than transfer policy.

But the saga is now finally at an end and both player and club can close the chapter.