It’s more than just football today. It’s personal.
Kylian Mbappé will face Paris Saint-Germain-the club he once led, sued, and finally left behind-for the first time since their dramatic split. The setting is the semi-final of the Club World Cup, but the emotions run far deeper than a ticket to the final.
Just days before the match, Mbappé quietly dropped his criminal complaint against PSG. His legal team had accused the French giants of harassment and even extortion after his bitter departure last year. Now, with a single press statement, the striker says he wants to move on.
“Kylian Mbappé has decided to bring an end to the criminal proceedings initiated last spring against PSG,” read a message from his camp. It spoke of de-escalation and fresh starts. But not forgiveness.
The civil case, which demands €55 million in allegedly unpaid wages and bonuses, remains open in a French labour court. PSG, in turn, claim Mbappé agreed to forgo that money and are demanding €98 million from him.
The numbers are staggering. The bitterness, undeniable.
No Peace, Just Football
This was always going to happen: Mbappé and PSG meeting again on the pitch. Seven years at Parc des Princes, a public tug-of-war with Real Madrid, and headlines that spanned politics and power plays. At one point, the French presidency even stepped in to convince him to stay.
He eventually joined Real Madrid for free in 2024. PSG, determined not to let him walk for nothing, had sidelined him, benched him, and floated him on the transfer market. He stayed firm. He returned to the pitch. He walked away on his own terms.
Or so it seemed.
He said little in his farewell, omitting even the name of PSG’s president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi. It felt final. But the fallout was anything but.
Success-But for Whom?
When Mbappé left, many assumed he was PSG’s loss and Madrid’s gain. But football is rarely that simple.
Mbappé shone individually-44 goals in his debut season, including a hat-trick against Barcelona and a stunner in the Copa del Rey final. But Madrid’s campaign ended in disappointment: no league title, no European crown, no cup.
Meanwhile, PSG-without their star man-won the Champions League for the first time.
Some said it was coincidence. Others saw karma.
“When a player like me joins a team, a lot changes,” Mbappé once remarked. But in Paris, it seems things changed for the better when he left. PSG now speak of unity, not individuals. “There are no stars here. The team is the star,” Al-Khelaifi said ahead of the tournament in the US. “This is the best squad we’ve had.”
It was hard to miss the subtext.
A Very Public Dressing-Down
Footage from No Tenéis Ni Puta Idea, a behind-the-scenes documentary about PSG under manager Luis Enrique, gave the world a rare look into Mbappé’s final months at the club.
In one scene, Enrique confronts Mbappé over his lacklustre efforts. “You’re a phenomenon,” he tells him, “but that’s not what I care about. I want you to press, to fight. If you do that—and get Dembélé, Kolo Muani, Asensio to press too—we become a machine.”
Then came the stinger: “That’s when you’re Michael Jordan.”
It was clear the coach wanted more than brilliance. He wanted leadership. Sacrifice. And maybe, just maybe, a little less ego.
“When a player leaves for where he wants,” Enrique later says, “it means there are parts of the team I didn’t control. Next season, I’ll control all of them.”
That season—this season—PSG finally won it all.
Mbappé’s Second Wind?
The story isn’t over yet. After a stomach virus hospitalised him and caused a sharp weight loss, Mbappé has missed most of this Club World Cup. In his absence, 21-year-old Gonzalo García has impressed for Madrid.
But against Borussia Dortmund last week, Mbappé returned with a bang—an acrobatic volley that reminded everyone what he can do. “A good way of showing I feel good again,” he said. The next day, he dropped his complaint against PSG.
That same day, Mbappé’s father was spotted in the VIP box next to Al-Khelaifi. “Relations have significantly improved,” said his camp.
Even Al-Khelaifi seems to be softening—at least on the surface.
“From the bottom of my heart, I wish him the best,” the PSG president said before the tournament. “Except when he plays us.”
And now, he will.
The grudge, the lawsuits, the money—all of it comes to a head on Wednesday. This time, it’s not a courtroom. It’s the pitch. And one of them will walk away with a shot at the world title.
Maybe even something that feels like closure.
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