France star Mathieu Valbuena takes old club Marseille to court

Paris: Lyon and France playmaker Mathieu Valbuena has gone to court to claim 568,000 euros ($640,000; £414,000) in compensation from his old club Marseille following a dispute with his former agent.

Valbuena, 30, believes the money, which he paid to his former agent Christophe Hutteau in May as compensation for breaking their contract, should in fact have been paid by Marseille.

Valbuena is preparing to face his old side, for whom he starred between 2006 and 2014 before spending a season at Dynamo Moscow, when Lyon go to the Stade Velodrome in Ligue 1 on Sunday, and he can expect a hostile reception from the home fans.

The player`s lawyer said that Marseille president Vincent Labrune had made a "verbal commitment" to pay the sum in question when Valbuena left OM last year.

The 50-times capped midfielder had been ordered to pay Hutteau the money in two instalments. When he refused to do so, the agent asked for accounts and luxury cars belonging to Valbuena to be seized, including a Porsche Cayenne.

Marseille deny having made any commitment to pay the money. A protocol signed by the three parties stated that the club would do so if Valbuena was transferred before the end of June 2014, but the move did not go through until August last year.

A verdict will be announced early next month.