Kylian Mbappe will come up against Paris Saint-Germain for the first time since leaving the French club a year ago as Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid revolution gets its biggest test yet in Wednesday’s Club World Cup semifinal.
Mbappé should be remembered as a PSG legend, having spent seven prolific campaigns there and eventually departing as the club’s all-time top scorer with 256 goals in 308 matches.
However, his legacy was tarnished by the manner of his departure, as the sense among many was that for the last half of his time in Paris, he was merely waiting for the right moment to move to Madrid, the club he had dreamed of representing as a young boy.
PSG, under its Qatari president Nasser al-Khelaifi, was not happy with the way in which Mbappe chose to run down his contract to sign for Real in 2024, denying it a transfer fee.
A bitter legal dispute has gone on between the parties for much of the time since, with Mbappe claiming he is owed 55 million euros ($64.4 million) in unpaid wages and bonuses from his spell in Paris.
The latest twist came just this week when one of Mbappe’s lawyers told AFP that the France captain had withdrawn the complaint of moral harassment against his former club.
He believes he was sidelined by PSG and made to train with players the club was looking to offload after refusing to agree to a new contract.
Mbappe missed a pre-season tour to Japan and the start of the next campaign before eventually being reintegrated into Luis Enrique’s squad.
All of that should have been behind Mbappe long ago, given the way his first season at Real has gone on a personal level.
