The French league’s legal commission has ordered Paris Saint-Germain to pay Kylian Mbappé the €55 million ($61m) in unpaid wages that he claims he’s entitled to, the league said Thursday.

The league confirmed the decision to The Associated Press without more details, a day after the France superstar rejected a mediation offer by the commission in his dispute with his former club.

PSG officials and Mbappé’s representatives met in Paris on Wednesday after Mbappé asked the commission to get involved. Mbappé joined Real Madrid this summer on a free transfer.

After the meeting, Mbappé’s representatives told the AP that the striker had asked the commission to take note of the nonpayment of three months of salary and the last third of a loyalty bonus.

PSG does not intend to pay and announced that it will take further legal action.

“In light of the limitations of the commission’s legal scope to take a complete decision on this matter, the matter must now be contested in another legal forum, to which Paris Saint-Germain is delighted to present all the facts over the coming months and year,” the club said in a message to the AP.

PSG have argued that they do not owe money to the World Cup winner under an agreement when Mbappé was sidelined ahead of the 2023-24 season — following his decision not to prolong his contract with the club — with the player allegedly stipulating that he would relinquish bonuses over his reintegration into the team.

“As a matter of law and fact, the player has made clear, repeated public and private commitments that must be respected, having been afforded unprecedented benefits by the club over seven years in Paris,” PSG said after the league’s announcement. “And the club looks forward to these being upheld in the proper forum, if the player seeks to pursue this incomprehensibly reputationally damaging matter further, in due course.”

Mbappé’s relationship with PSG ended amid deep tensions during his final season at the club.

PSG felt let down by Mbappé after offering him the most lucrative contract in the club’s history when he signed a new contract in 2022.

But Mbappé was frustrated because he felt promises to sign key players were not kept. When he signed the new deal, he was paraded in front of fans holding up a jersey with 2025 on it. Mbappé was reportedly annoyed about this because the contract was until 2024 with the option for an extra season.

Mbappé stunned PSG in June last year by informing the club he would not take the option for an extra year. With his contract effectively into its final year, it put PSG in the position of needing to sell Mbappé to avoid losing him for free when the contract expired.

His PSG career could have ended in the summer of 2023 amid a tense transfer standoff. After telling the club he would not extend his contract for an extra year, Mbappé was left off a preseason tour to Japan and South Korea and forced to train with fringe players. PSG said it would rather sell him than let the player leave for free in 2024, but he rejected a €300m move to Saudi League team Al Hilal.

PSG left Mbappé out of the team’s opening Ligue 1 game of that season as the standoff continued but eventually let him return to the lineup after “constructive and positive talks” between the two parties, PSG said at the time.

In a surprising turn of events, a report from Ferran Correas via SPORT has revealed that Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe had actually agreed to join Liverpool in 2022. However, the transfer fell through due to Paris Saint-Germain’s high demands for a transfer fee.

The report highlights that this incident took place just two months after Mbappe had extended his contract with PSG in 2022.

The French forward was reportedly frustrated because the club had not followed through on promises to bring in top reinforcements to compete for the Champions League title.

High-profile players like Robert Lewandowski and Bernardo Silva were mentioned, but none of these deals materialised. Feeling betrayed, Mbappe reached an agreement with Liverpool and formally requested a transfer from PSG through a written letter.

PSG blocked the move

As it turns out, PSG’s then managing director, Antero Henrique, placed a staggering €400 million price tag on the player, which was far beyond Liverpool’s budget.

The Reds were reportedly ready to pay around €200 million, with the plan for Mbappe to sign a short-term contract before eventually moving to Real Madrid.

Mbappe’s dissatisfaction with PSG was evident as he chose not to play in their opening league match that season. Although the club issued a medical report, many found it hard to believe.

Fast forward to 2023, Mbappe once again expressed his displeasure with PSG by sending another letter stating his intent not to renew his contract. This prompted the Parisian club to put him up for sale, and at one point, he was even removed from the squad.

Despite this tension, Mbappe eventually returned to the starting lineup under manager Luis Enrique. This summer, however, he finally completed his long-anticipated move to Real Madrid, leaving PSG on a free transfer.

Madriduniversal

A now former Real Madrid star has announced his disappointing departure from the club via social media.

MARCA described Paulo Iago as Madrid’s Lamine Yamal in its La Fabrica academy. Unlike the FC Barcelona prodigy, however, who is similarly represented by Jorge Mendes, Paulo Iago and his camp have decided that the midfielder would be better off continuing his progress over the border at Sporting CP in Lisbon.

Paulo Iago announced his departure from the Spanish capital with an emotional farewell video on Instagram, saying that he was “leaving at the age of 17 with a certain disappointment” for not seeing his dream of debuting with the first team at the Bernabeu come true.

“It was hard to make this decision, and it hurts me a lot to leave. The reasons are what they are and I’m keeping them to myself. I will speak clearly when the time comes,” he added.

AS reported back in mid-July that Paulo Iago had decided to leave the club he joined as a six-year-old, amid falling out of favour with U18s coach Alvaro Arbeloa, who was previously one of his main backers.

After previously being talked about as one of the biggest pearls shining in La Fabrica, who had scored more than 200 goals there, Paulo Iago found himself on the outside looking in upon returning from an unflattering U17 World Cup campaign with Spain in Indonesia last year.

In the summer of 2024, he has opted to up sticks to Portugal and noted other compatriots such as Pedro Porro and Antonio Adan who similarly took the plunge prior to winning “many titles at Sporting” during his presentation.

“Hopefully I can also win many trophies like them,” the youngster added, also saying that he was “very happy to sign for Sporting CP because it is a club that has already produced great players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Figo”.

“The club invests a lot in training and young people, that motivates me,” he further stated.

Now that his signing has been confirmed, Paulo Iago will reportedly join Sporting’s B reserve team and look to make his way into its senior equivalent which is Portugal’s defending league champion.