French international Benjamin Mendy, who was acquitted in England for the second time last week on charges of rape and sexual assault, will return to play for his country, having signed for Lorient.
The Breton team announced this Wednesday in a statement that it has signed Mendy for the next two seasons. The left-back, born 29 years ago in the city of Longjumeau, in the Paris region, “comes to reinforce the cash” of Lorient and will wear the number 5, highlighted his new club.
Today he will participate in the first training session with his new teammates, after having passed the traditional medical visit. Mendy was part of the French team that won the World Cup in Russia in 2018. During his tenure at Manchester City, where he arrived in 2017, he won the English Premier League title four times.
Before that, he had been a French champion when he played with Monaco in the 2016-2017 season and wore the jersey of Olympique de Marseille and the Le Havre team, where he began his professional career.
Mendy had been suspended by Manchester City in August 2021 when allegations against him of rape and sexual assault came to light. Last January, after spending time in pretrial detention, he was acquitted on six counts of rape and one of sexual assault, and last Friday the same court found him not guilty again in one case of rape and another of attempted murder. rape.
After being acquitted, several footballers supported Mendy and regretted the damage to his football career. “My question is, what will be done to repair the damage?” said Real Madrid player Vinícius, a message very similar to that of mattress player Memphis Depay: “Many years of investment to become a professional footballer… Now what!? “. Paul Pogba called for the footballer’s name to be “cleared” and other players, such as Jack Grealish, Antonio Rudiger and Marcos Alonso, supported Mendy.
