The Good and the Bad: Kylian Mbappé's Season

For Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé, the 2025/26 season was a period in which individual success and team disappointment were intertwined. The 27-year-old French star was again in the headlines for his productivity on the pitch, while he was also frequently talked about for both his end-of-season injury and his off-field legal agenda. In this article, we examine the player's season together with statistics, injuries, and the main talking points.

Statistically, Mbappé's season was extremely productive. The French forward scored 24 goals in La Liga to become the league's top scorer; this showed that he was the leader of the attack in his second season in Spain as well. His contribution to the league was not limited to goals alone; he also fed his teammates with around five assists. These figures made Mbappé one of the most productive players not only at Real Madrid but in the league as a whole.

However, this individual brilliance could not be crowned with team success. Real Madrid finished La Liga in second place, behind champions Barcelona, and closed the season without a trophy. Despite Mbappé's goals, the team falling behind in the title race was one of the season's most discussed topics. The uncertainty in the managerial seat at the end of the season and a transitional period were also among the elements that increased the turbulence on the Madrid side.

In the later weeks of the season, Mbappé encountered an injury. This injury led to the player being unable to feature in some of the season's critical matches; among them was the El Clásico against Barcelona, which was decisive in terms of the title race. According to some reports, it was conveyed that the player and the club acted cautiously, also taking into account the approaching 2026 World Cup. Mbappé returned to the pitch in the final weeks of the season and tried to contribute to his team's remaining matches.

Off the pitch, the most talked-about topic of the season was the legal dispute between Mbappé and his former club Paris Saint-Germain. In December 2025, a Paris labour court ordered PSG to pay the player around €60-61 million for unpaid wages and bonuses. The dispute stemmed from the process the player went through at the club after his 2023 decision not to extend his contract; the player had argued that he was sidelined and forced to train with players the club was trying to offload. While Mbappé's lawyers welcomed the decision, it was assessed that the process is open to appeal and that the dispute would not end easily due to the enormous gaps between the parties' claims.

The later stages of this legal process also stayed on the agenda. In early 2026, there were reports that, despite the court ruling, the payment had not been made in full, and that the player's legal team brought enforcement steps back onto the agenda over a remaining amount. In addition, the player had withdrawn a "moral harassment" criminal complaint he had previously filed, in a search for reconciliation; the wage case continued as a separate process. All these developments formed a backdrop that marked Mbappé's season beyond his performance on the pitch.

The off-field agenda was not limited to legal matters; as one of the world's most recognized footballers, Mbappé was also constantly a focus of the tabloid press. News about his private life and his social-media posts at times got ahead of the sporting agenda. However, since such content largely remained at the level of rumor and gossip, the elements that truly defined the player's season were again his productivity on the pitch and his ongoing legal file with PSG.

In conclusion, Kylian Mbappé's 2025/26 season can be summarized as a period in which an individual peak coexisted with team and off-field turbulence. The La Liga top-scorer crown proved the player's class on the pitch once again; however, a season that closed without a trophy, an end-of-season injury, and the ongoing legal battle with PSG were elements that cast a shadow over this success. Mbappé finds himself at an important turning point in his career, both in Real Madrid's rebuilding process and ahead of the 2026 World Cup.