Club World Cup reunion for Mbappe and PSG

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 today’s Club World Cup semifinal.

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Mbappe should be remembered as a PSG legend, having spent seven prolific campaigns there and eventually departing as their all-time top scorer with 256 goals in 308 games.

But his legacy was a little tainted by the manner of his departure, the sense among many that for the last half of his time in Paris he was just waiting for the right moment to move to Madrid, the club he had dreamed of representing as a young boy.

PSG, under their Qatari president Nasser al-Khelaifi, were not happy with the way in which Mbappe chose to run down his contract in order to sign for Real in 2024, denying them 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 (about R1.14 billion) in unpaid wages and bonuses from his spell in Paris.