Kylian Mbappe, the renowned French football player, finds himself in the midst of a high-stakes confrontation with his previous team, P.S.G., as the player engages in negotiations concerning a substantial sum of money.

As the top soccer player in France, Kylian Mbappé was the star attraction that Paris Saint-Germain had built its team around for years. Brought back to Paris from Monaco in 2017 for a record-breaking deal worth about $200 million, Mbappé quickly became one of the most famous athletes in the world and forged a strong bond with the club. However, trouble soon arose when Mbappé, who had always dreamed of playing for Spain’s Real Madrid, was approached by the team in 2022 with a contract expiry looming. Despite a successful attempt to stay in Paris thanks to the intervention of French President Emmanuel Macron and a mega-dimension contract, tensions between Mbappé and the club remained high. Mbappé’s departure a year earlier than expected in 2024 led to a bitter and protracted legal dispute, with Mbappé demanding that his former club pay him 55 million euros (about $61 million) it claims he is owed. The case highlights the global market for soccer talent and pits one of the world’s most prominent athletes against a small but influential Persian Gulf nation. The situation is also providing insight into the strong reliance on personal relationships still dominating the soccer industry and the power struggles that can arise.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/world/europe/kylian-mbappe-psg-qatar.html