The Mbappé PSG lawsuit ended in December 2025 when a Paris labour court ordered Paris Saint-Germain to pay Kylian Mbappé roughly €60 million in salary, a signing bonus installment, and an ethics bonus the club had withheld during the last months of his contract. The court rejected PSG’s €440 million counterclaim, and in February 2026 the club announced it would not appeal, closing the main dispute.1Le Monde. PSG Decide Not to Appeal the €60 Million Mbappe Payment
What PSG Withheld and Why
PSG stopped paying Mbappé near the end of his contract. The club withheld a €36.6 million gross signing bonus installment due in February 2024, along with his salary and ethics bonus for April, May, and June 2024, the final three months before he left as a free agent for Real Madrid.2The New York Times / The Athletic. Kylian Mbappe PSG Salary Court Case
The ethics bonus is a distinctive feature of French football contracts. French law bars clubs from deducting fines directly from salary, so conduct clauses are structured as bonuses of €500,000 per month tied to standards like punctuality, courtesy toward fans, and protecting the club’s image.3Chosun. Mbappe’s Ethics Bonus in PSG Contract
PSG’s justification for withholding the money was a claimed verbal deal. The club said that at a meeting around August 13, 2023, after Mbappé sent a letter on August 11, the player agreed to one of two options: extend his contract through June 2025 so PSG could secure a transfer fee, or waive various financial entitlements if he left on a free transfer the following summer.2The New York Times / The Athletic. Kylian Mbappe PSG Salary Court Case Mbappé’s lawyer Thomas Clay called the alleged agreement a “fairy tale,” and his team repeatedly noted that PSG had never produced any written record of it.4Courthouse News Service. Court Rules PSG Must Pay More Than $70M to Mbappe in Dispute Over Unpaid Wages
The dispute traces back to summer 2023. Mbappé had told PSG he would not extend beyond June 2024, and after he refused to move to Al-Hilal following a world-record bid of roughly £259 million, the club excluded him from the preseason tour and barred him from training with the first team.5The Guardian. Kylian Mbappe Barred From Training With PSG Main First-Team Group
The Football Rulings PSG Refused to Honor
Before the case reached the labour court, Mbappé won inside French football’s own system. In September 2024, the Ligue de Football Professionnel’s legal commission ordered PSG to pay about €55 million covering unpaid salary, the final third of his signing bonus, and the ethics bonus.6RFI. PSG and Former Star Striker Mbappe Begin Fight Over Unpaid Wages On October 25, 2024, the LFP’s National Joint Appeals Commission upheld that ruling, stating PSG “must pay him the salary he is claiming.”7ESPN. Kylian Mbappe League Upholds Ruling Unpaid $60M PSG Wages
PSG refused to pay, called the ruling “non-binding,” and sued the LFP itself in the Paris judicial court to contest the league’s authority to enforce the decision.8RFI. PSG Court Hearing on Mbappe League Ruling Set for February Mbappé’s lawyer Delphine Verheyden accused PSG of trying to “escape the rules of football” and warned that allowing a club to ignore governing-body rulings “could blow up the whole system.” She also raised the possibility of involving UEFA, which could have affected PSG’s eligibility for European competitions.9Yahoo Sports. Mbappe Lawyer Accuses PSG of Attempting to Escape Football Rules
Into the Labour Court
In April 2025, Mbappé’s team filed at the Conseil de prud’hommes de Paris and obtained a protective seizure of €55 million from PSG’s accounts. A Paris appeals court later lifted the freeze, finding it lacked sufficient grounds, and ordered Mbappé to pay €3,000 for abuse of process.10France 24. Mbappe Legal Team Says PSG Accounts Frozen as Salary Dispute Escalates11Paris Fans. Mbappe’s Appeal Rejected PSG Wins Another Round
Both sides argued the case on November 17, 2025, and each expanded it well beyond the withheld wages. Mbappé raised his claim to €263 million, asking the court to reclassify his fixed-term contract as a permanent one, which would have triggered far larger damages, and to award compensation for psychological harassment, undeclared work, and reputational harm.12Fox Sports. Paris Court Rules PSG Must Pay Over $70 Million Kylian Mbappe Unpaid Wages Co-counsel Frédérique Cassereau described PSG’s account of the verbal deal as a “fantastic story from a parallel universe.”13Sports Illustrated. Kylian Mbappe Huge Windfall Triumphant Court Battle PSG
PSG, represented by Renaud Semerdjian, filed a €440 million counterclaim covering lost transfer revenue from the failed Al-Hilal deal, alleged reputational damage, and what the club framed as Mbappé’s breach of the August 2023 verbal agreement. Semerdjian argued the case was about “good faith, upholding values, and respecting commitments made.”14France 24. Mbappe PSG in Counterclaims Worth Hundreds of Millions
How the Court Ruled
On December 16, 2025, the Paris labour court ordered PSG to pay approximately €60 million. The award covered three months of unpaid salary from April through June 2024, the third installment of the signing bonus, the ethics bonus for those months, and a paid leave allowance.15BBC Sport. PSG Ordered to Pay Kylian Mbappe Unpaid Wages and Bonuses
The court’s reasoning turned on evidence. It found that PSG had produced no written proof of the alleged gentleman’s agreement and that a claimed verbal arrangement did not override Mbappé’s contractual right to be paid for work he performed.16Fox Sports. PSG Ordered to Pay Huge Fee to Kylian Mbappe Over Unpaid Wages The court found “no legal basis” for PSG’s €440 million counterclaim and rejected it in full.2The New York Times / The Athletic. Kylian Mbappe PSG Salary Court Case It also declined to grant Mbappé’s larger asks, refusing to reclassify the fixed-term contract as permanent and turning back the extra damages that would have pushed the award to €263 million.15BBC Sport. PSG Ordered to Pay Kylian Mbappe Unpaid Wages and Bonuses
The court stated that “even in the professional football industry, labour law applies to everyone” and that “commitments must be honoured.”17Euronews. Paris Labour Court Rules PSG Must Pay Over €60M to Mbappe As an additional measure, it ordered PSG to display the full text of the ruling on the front page of the club’s website for one month.15BBC Sport. PSG Ordered to Pay Kylian Mbappe Unpaid Wages and Bonuses
What Happened After the Ruling
PSG was officially notified of the decision around January 20, 2026, and had one month to appeal. On February 20, 2026, the club announced it would not, saying it had made the decision “in the interest of responsibility and in order to put a definitive end to a procedure which has lasted too long.” The appeal window then expired.1Le Monde. PSG Decide Not to Appeal the €60 Million Mbappe Payment
PSG paid €55 million covering the salary and bonus core of the award. A residual disagreement remained over roughly €5.9 million in holiday pay that Mbappé’s side said was still outstanding. Semerdjian called those claims “completely false” and said the club had “fulfilled all the obligations incumbent on it by virtue of this decision.” No further litigation over the remaining amount had been reported as of early 2026.18Yahoo Sports. Paris Saint-Germain Decide Not to Appeal Mbappe Payment
A parallel criminal track ran alongside the wage case but did not produce the payout. Mbappé filed a personal criminal complaint against PSG on May 16, 2025, alleging “moral harassment and attempted extortion of a signature” over his 2023 sidelining, and a judicial investigation was opened with two investigating magistrates.19Yahoo Sports. Judicial Investigation Opened After Kylian Mbappe Files Moral Harassment Claim Against PSG He withdrew the complaint on July 7, 2025, describing it as a “gesture of de-escalation” while talks between his camp and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi were underway.20Le Monde. Mbappe Drops Criminal Complaint Against PSG as Talks Take Place Behind the Scenes