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Hello! The battle lines are drawn between Kylian Mbappe and Paris Saint-Germain. It’s a tussle over money. And it’s not pretty.
Coming up:
💸 Mbappe’s $60m (£46m) PSG claim
🤝 Arteta commits future to Arsenal
🕵️♂️ Can you trust the EPL table?
🤔 What’s niggling De Bruyne?
Mbappe’s $60m Row: Mediation recommended for striker and PSG over unpaid wages
First up, a labour dispute like no other in football. It concerns Kylian Mbappe and his former club, Paris Saint-Germain.
The quarrel is essentially a fight over earnings, but the latest round of it has opened the door to other fascinating things: namely, the way big clubs manage prime assets and the money swirling around in their coffers.
A few months ago, it emerged PSG were withholding wages owed to Mbappe after the forward indicated his intention to sign for Real Madrid. As a result of a hearing held in France yesterday, we’ve got ourselves a lot more context — and it’s beyond juicy.
To sum up, Mbappe says he is owed £46.4m ($60.6m) in unpaid salary from the 2023-24 season. It’s no secret he was out of contract as of July 1, making one of the world’s most valuable players a free agent — a nightmare scenario for PSG, who say a deal was in place to safeguard them against getting nothing for Mbappe.
The 25-year-old says otherwise. France’s governing body, the Ligue de Football Professionnel, digested the case yesterday and recommended mediation, but Mbappe’s representatives did not respond to The Athletic’s request for comment, so it’s far from clear if he is open to it. If not, we could be on for the mother of all employment tribunals.
A relationship gone sour
This all goes back to the summer of 2023 when Mbappe was refusing to sign a contract extension and PSG — fearful of losing him on a free transfer — excluded him from their first-team plans.
He was subsequently reintegrated on the basis, PSG claim, of the following arrangement:
- Either he accepted an extension with the promise of being made available for a fee of £152m in the summer of 2024 (in theory, keeping the dream of Real alive);
- Or he ran down his deal but ensured PSG did not go empty-handed by waiving his right to a wedge of earnings (likewise clearing a path to the Bernabeu).
Here’s the extraordinary thing. If Mbappe had taken option one, he’d have stood to exit PSG with a loyalty bonus of £69.2m. That’s the thick end of £70m in return for leaving the club.
The alleged deal was verbal, but PSG say it was witnessed by head coach Luis Enrique and their sporting director. Mbappe wants his money. He’s not backing down. It’s messy and it’s likely to get messier. Stay tuned.
News Round-Up: Arteta’s three-year deal, Man Utd’s £113m loss
- David Ornstein came steaming in with a stonking exclusive this morning. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has agreed a new three-year contract to 2027. If he sees it out, he’ll have spent eight years at the helm — which is bonkers considering it’s his first managerial post.
- Manchester United’s latest accounts, for 2023-24, show a loss of £113m. Over a three-year period, their losses total £313m, far in excess of the Premier League’s £105m profit and sustainability (PSR) limit. But there are exceptions and United insist they’re compliant with PSR. Mark Critchley is making sense of it all.
- Cristiano Ronaldo has been turning up the heat on United and Erik ten Hag in an interview with ex-Old Trafford team-mate Rio Ferdinand. “(As) Manchester United coach, you cannot say you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League,” he said.
- Tottenham Hotspur’s Rodrigo Bentancur has been charged by the Football Association over comments made about Spurs team-mate Son Heung-min, relating to Son’s ethnicity.
- Andriy Lunin is back on the bench at Real Madrid, behind Thibaut Courtois, but he’s accepted a contract extension anyway. This one ties him down until 2028.
Do Look Now
As a concept for an article, ‘the Premier League table after three games’ made my heart sink. I’m one of those miseries who lets the standings wash over me until October at the earliest.
But maybe I’ve been missing a trick. Study the graph above and you’ll see how closely the league after three games last season resembled the league after 38.
With that in mind, I picked out three clubs who might be particularly aware of the current rankings. We’ll kick off with Arsenal.
A penny for Mikel Arteta’s thoughts. Happy days with the new contract, sure, but he’ll be stripped of his best midfield at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, an on-field crisis for Arteta who has to keep Manchester City on a leash at the top.
No team will be keener to smell blood in Arsenal’s waters than Spurs. And next up for Arteta in the Premier League? City away. Delicate moments, then, a mere month in.
Over at Liverpool, top marks for Arne Slot to this point. He’s breezed into Jurgen Klopp’s shadow. He’s three-and-oh as our U.S. friends would say. He’s implemented logical defensive adjustments (see above).
On a small sample of evidence, Liverpool should be optimistic about repeating a top-three finish. The title might be asking too much this time, but if Slot is a medium-term project, they can live with that.
As for 20th-placed Everton, consider the stats: zero points, a horrible goal difference and 40 shots conceded in open play. I’ll level with you. I’d be worried.
A positive straw to clutch? Their expected goals against (xGA) total is better than their actual goals against tally, which could point to stronger results ahead. But they better buckle in.
Poch picks: Who’ll be winners and losers under new USMNT coach?
You can forgive the USMNT’s players for feeling slightly chastened, but if they’ve got anything about them, they’ll be bouncing at the thought of Mauricio Pochettino taking them on.
As ever in these situations, there’ll be winners and losers from the change of boss. We’ll find out soon who floats Pochettino’s boat. I’m most interested in the prospects of these names:
- Gio Reyna. He evidently rates himself, so Pochettino should be manna from heaven for him. To become pivotal, he has to inject some impetus into his club career. At 21, the time is now.
- Tyler Adams. He was set up to be the 2026 World Cup poster boy, but injuries are strangling him. His tenacity and ball-winning traits should suit Pochettino, but it’s impossible to build a side around a midfielder who is rarely fit.
- Folarin Balogun. By no stretch did he have a sensational Copa America, but he didn’t look out of place either and he’s got development potential. Presently, who is better to play at No 9?
- Matt Turner. The U.S. have a bright goalkeeping prospect in Gabriel Slonina. Poch will have crossed paths with him at Chelsea. He’s not ready yet, but in two years’ time? I’m keen to see if Turner’s skill set is strong enough for Pochettino’s liking.
What’s Eating De Bruyne?
What next for Kevin De Bruyne? It’s a question worth asking. His contract at Manchester City is running out. He’s thoroughly fed up with the Belgian national team’s decline. I look at him and think a new challenge might be in order.
At Euro 2024, De Bruyne got snappy with questions about Belgium’s ill-fated golden generation. You can see why. That generation’s gone and he knows it. Belgium won zilch when the chance was there. It must hurt.
Earlier this week, Belgium lost to France in the Nations League. De Bruyne was caught on camera apparently shouting “Ik stop” (I quit) repeatedly at Belgium’s sporting director. Afterwards, in a TV interview, he said certain things about the squad “were unacceptable”. It was almost a resignation speech.
In a lot of respects, De Bruyne is still close to the height of his powers. But this time next year, where will he be with club and country?
Around The Athletic FC
- Felipe Cardenas has written beautifully about Juan Izquierdo, the Uruguayan defender who died after collapsing in a Copa Libertadores game last month. His club, Nacional, plan to support his family with the equivalent of eight times Izquierdo’s salary.
- Not so long ago, £10m for Federico Chiesa would have been a steal. It’s what Liverpool paid for him ahead of the transfer deadline — but will he prove to be a bargain? His career is a tale of ups and downs.
- I found this from Pol Ballus thought-provoking. When exactly will Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong get over his ankle injury?
- Fill your boots with our latest Fantasy Premier League tips. Half the world is drafting in Brighton’s Brazilian wizard, Joao Pedro. Obviously get shot of Martin Odegaard. And maybe Nathan Ake, too.
- Thierry Henry is a CBS pundit, but even he thinks there’s far too much football being played. That’s been a topic of discussion on The Athletic FC podcast, too. I’m all for trimming the schedule.
- Most clicked in yesterday’s TAFC: Adam Leventhal’s tough but vital read on the long prison sentence handed down to ex-Millwall forward Kiernan Hughes-Mason.
(Top photos: Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
