French football star Kylian Mbappe has filed a complaint against former employers Paris Saint-Germain accusing the French team of ‘moral harassment’ during the final season of his stay at the club. The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed on Thursday that the forward had stated in his complaint that he was “lofted” by the club after he refused to sign a contract extension before the 2023-24 season. In France, lofting means isolating a player from the main squad for sporting, administrative, or disciplinary reasons.
The Ligue 1 club reportedly sidelined the France captain once he refused to extend his contract. The striker was left off a preseason tour to Japan and South Korea and forced to train with fringe players.
Mbappe and PSG are in a dispute for a sum of 55 million euros ($61 million) in unpaid wages, which Mbappe, currently playing for Real Madrid, claims he is owed by the French heavyweight club.
Mbappé’s career with PSG ended after seven years — during which he scored a club-record 256 goals — amid boos from some sections of the PSG faithful during his last home game at Parc des Princes. He then joined Real Madrid last summer on a free transfer. Despite the blow of losing a star like Mbappe, PSG did win the Champions League this year.
What went wrong between Mbappe and PSG?
Mbappé signed the most lucrative contract in PSG’s history in 2022. Back then, even though the contract will till 2024, Mbappe was made to pose with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi on the Parc des Princes pitch and jersey with “2025” on the back.
The Frenchman had in effect signed a two-year deal with an optional extra season. But that extra year was a player option. In June 2023, Mbappe informed the club that he would not take the option up and play an extra year in Paris as he eyed a move to his dream club Real Madrid. This meant that PSG either needed to sell the player so as to not lose him for a free deal. PSG put its crown jewel for sale in the transfer market, but Mbappe rejected an offer from Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal worth 300 million euros.
After the protracted disagreement, PSG claimed that Mbappe had agreed to forgo about 55m euros in bonuses from the deal he signed in 2022. This was a verbal agreement, which is now being disputed by the footballer’s legal team. Mbappe is demanding three months’ salary and the last third of a loyalty bonus.
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