Paris St-Germain have been ordered to pay former striker Kylian Mbappe 60 million euros (£52.5m) in unpaid salary and bonuses by a French court.
Mbappe had been seeking 263m euros (£231.5m) from his former club after the long-running dispute reached a Paris labour court in November.
The European champions were counter suing the France captain for 240m euros (£211m).
The 26-year-old Real Madrid forward claimed the nine-figure sum, which included 55m euros (£46.3m) in unpaid wages, as damages in response to a contract dispute and ill-treatment by the club.
However, he has only been awarded a fraction of that amount, with the court recognising that PSG had failed to pay three months of his salary between April and June 2024 as well as an ethics bonus and a signing bonus under his contract.
“We are satisfied with this ruling. This is what you could expect when salaries went unpaid,” Mbappe’s lawyer Frederique Cassereau said.
PSG had been seeking compensation for Mbappe’s failed 300m euros transfer to Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal in 2023.
He joined Spanish giants Real Madrid on a free transfer the following summer.
In a statement, Mbappe’s legal team added: “This judgement confirms that commitments entered into must be honoured. It restores a simple truth: even in the professional football industry, labour law applies to everyone.
“Mr Mbappe, for his part, scrupulously respected his sporting and contractual obligations for seven years, right up to the final day.”
Mbappe’s decision not to move to the Saudi Pro League, coupled with his refusal to sign a contract extension, sparked the more than two-year dispute, with the forward believing he was sidelined by the French champions.
He was not invited to take part in the club’s pre-season tour of Asia and missed their first match of the 2023-24 campaign.
He was later reinstated to the side – a decision PSG said followed Mbappe’s agreement to forgo some of his end-of-contract payments to protect the club’s financial health.
However, Mbappe’s representatives dismissed the claim as “fantasy” at November’s hearing.
PSG also accused the player of acting “disloyally by concealing for nearly eleven months, between July 2022 and June 2023, his decision not to extend his contract” and said the club had suffered “significant damages” as a result of his actions.
Mbappe was at PSG from 2017 to 2024, initially on loan from Monaco and later on a permanent transfer, and won 15 trophies in the French capital.
He is PSG’s all-time leading goal-scorer, with 256 goals in 308 games, including 44 goals in 48 matches in his final season.
By BBC News
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