July 20 – Former France international Benjamin Mendy has signed a two-year deal with French club Lorient on Wednesday, only days after being cleared of rape allegations.
Mendy became the Premier League’s most expensive defender when he joined Manchester City from Monaco for £52 million in 2017. He won three league titles with City and was a member of France’s 2018 World Cup winning squad.
But the 29-year-old left City last month after his contract expired. He last played for them against Tottenham Hotspur in August 2021 and was suspended later that month when he was arrested.
“After passing the traditional medical, Benjamin Mendy, a 2018 world champion, four-time Premier League winner with Manchester City and Ligue 1 French champion with Monaco among others, has strengthened Lorient’s squad for the new season,” Lorient said in a statement.
The former France international leftback was cleared at a retrial of attempting to rape a woman – who was 29 at the time – at his home in October 2018. He was also found not guilty of the rape of a second woman two years later also at his home address. Mendy denied the charges and said the incidents were consensual encounters.
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