Kylian Mbappe and PSG set for Club World Cup reunion as Real Madrid eye final

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Real Madrids Kylian Mbappe will come up against Paris Saint-Germain for the first time since he left the club.

PHOTO: AFP

EAST RUTHERFORD – 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 the Club World Cup semi-final on July 9.

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 in unpaid wages and bonuses from his spell in Paris.

The latest twist came just this week, when one of Mbappe’s lawyers said that the France captain had withdrawn a complaint of moral harassment against his former employers.

That was after the Paris prosecutor’s office revealed last month that an investigation had been