Kylian Mbappé, here alongside Brazilian Neymar, on July 20, 2023, was dismissed by PSG for the club’s summer tour of Asia. JULIAN DE ROSA / AFP
“If his desire is not to extend, we do not have to threaten him to extend” : the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP), the union of professional players, showed on Saturday July 22 its support for Kylian Mbappé, star striker of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and captain of the France team.
PSG want their star to extend his contract, which expires in a year, or be sold this summer. He refuses that Kylian Mbappé leaves free in a year, therefore for free, which would represent a considerable shortfall for the champions of France. The capital club hit hard by dismissing the player from his summer tour in Asia. When international training resumed on July 15, President Nasser Al-Khelaïfi asked the Mbappé camp to clarify the situation.
But he has not received a response, a source with knowledge of the negotiations told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The club is convinced that Mbappé has already agreed to join Real Madrid for free in June 2024, says the same source, with a significant signing bonus, since the “White House” (nickname of the Madrid club) will have saved the transfer. PSG management regrets that Mbappé does not choose the solution “win-win” that she advocates: extend so that the player does not leave for free, or accept a transfer which would bring him one or even two hundred million euros.
Legally, however, Kylian Mbappé has no obligation to accept this offer. « [On a] someone who has a fixed-term contract, which will end next year, and who wants to respect it, all of a sudden or he is blacklisted, or he is pushed aside”was surprised Philippe Piat, president of the UNFP, at Franceinfo. “It’s something that is incredible. »
The practice of “loft” denounced
Mr. Piat also recalled that, “in the regulations”, clubs have the right to manage their squad “in the way they think good until September 1st” but that after this date “the club will no longer be able to manage its workforce without falling into illegality” (see box below).
Beyond the case of Kylian Mbappé, the UNFP denounces the so-called “loft” practice: the sidelining of players under contract whose departure the club wishes, to force a transfer paid by another team to avoid an end of contract and a player who leaves freely. In its press release, the UNFP thus underlines that within PSG, a young player is also concerned: Edouard Michut, international within the France team under 20 years old.
“Last season, 187 Ligue 1 players were, at one time or another, invited to ‘visit a loft'”, underlines the UNFP. Its president, Philippe Piat, specifies that” fifteen “ of players “complained to the Legal Committee of the League [de football professionnel] to enforce their contract. But others “don’t do it [de peur] to be blacklisted and have negative repercussions”. The union therefore calls on all clubs to “compliance with contracts signed in good and due form”.
What the rules say
Article 507 of the Professional Football Charter, defining the management of the workforce by clubs, distinguishes two periods:
From July 1 to September 1: “no constraint in the management of the workforce is imposed on the clubs during this period except that of allowing all players under professional contract to benefit from the conditions of preparation and training”, referring in particular to access to infrastructure and medical care.From September 2 to June 30: “Clubs must allow players under professional contract to participate in collective training with the group or groups of players making up the professional group or groups and in individual training. (…) The availability of any player under professional contract in [un éventuel deuxième] training group, according to the criteria and conditions defined above, must be carried out on a temporary basis for exclusively sporting reasons related to the management of the workforce. It must in no case be extended on a regular, permanent and definitive basis, resembling a dismissal of the player contrary to the spirit of the text and the professional footballer’s employment contract. »