Benjamin Mendy

Benjamin Mendy (French pronunciation: ​[bɛ̃ʒamɛ̃ mɛndi]; born 17 July 1994) is a French professional footballer who plays as a left back for Premier League club Manchester City and the France national team.

Benjamin Mendy
Mendy playing for France U19 in 2013
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Mendy[1]
Date of birth (1994-07-17) 17 July 1994[2]
Place of birth Longjumeau, France
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[3]
Position(s) Left back
Club information
Current team
 Manchester City
Number 22
Youth career
2000–2007 Palaiseau
2007–2011 Le Havre
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Le Havre II 12 (0)
2011–2013 Le Havre 57 (0)
2013 Marseille II 2 (0)
2013–2016 Marseille 81 (2)
2016–2017 Monaco 25 (0)
2017– Manchester City 42 (1)
National team‡
2009–2010 France U16 15 (1)
2010–2011 France U17 17 (1)
2011–2012 France U18 5 (1)
2012–2013 France U19 12 (0)
2014–2016 France U21 9 (0)
2017– France 10 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:28, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:56, 17 November 2019 (UTC)

After coming through Le Havre's youth academy, Mendy began his playing career with the club's reserve side in 2010, eventually being promoted to the first team a year later. He remained with the club until 2013, when he joined Ligue 1 side Marseille. Mendy spent the next three seasons with Les Olympiens before leaving for Monaco, with whom he won the national championship in 2016–17. In the summer of 2017, Mendy moved to the English club Manchester City on a then world-record transfer fee for a defender. He subsequently won the Premier League in his first season in England.

Mendy made his senior debut for France in 2017 after previously being capped by France youth teams at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 levels. He was chosen in France's squad for the 2018 World Cup which they won.

Club career

Le Havre

On 24 July 2011, Mendy signed his first professional contract, a three-year contract with Ligue 2 club Le Havre.[4] Mendy made his professional debut on 9 August 2011 in the team's 2–1 Coupe de la Ligue second round defeat to Amiens.[5]

Marseille

On 8 July 2013, Mendy signed for Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille.[6] Mendy was signed by manager Élie Baup, who led Marseille to a second-place finish and qualification for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League in the previous season.[7] He made his club and Ligue 1 debut on 11 August against Guingamp, and scored his first goal for Marseille on 24 September against Saint-Étienne. Mendy was in the squad for all six group stage matches, and made his European debut on 1 October at Borussia Dortmund. However, Marseille lost all their group stage matches while falling out of the competition, and Baup was sacked in favor of former club manager José Anigo.[8] Mendy was sparingly used toward the end of the season by Anigo, and made just one start in Marseille's final fourteen games. His performance in the start, against Lille on 20 April 2014, was criticized by former Marseille left-back Éric Di Meco, who claimed he would "eat a rat" if Mendy ever made the French national team.[9] After the season, Mendy was included on the 40-man shortlist for the 2014 Golden Boy award.[10]

Mendy developed his game the following season under Argentinian manager Marcelo Bielsa, as Mendy claimed Bielsa had "given back to him the strength and aggressiveness lost last year."[11] Mendy made 33 starts in the league in the 2014–15 campaign, getting 6 assists as well as Marseille qualified for the Europa League. On 23 September 2015, Mendy was shown a straight red card shortly after coming on as a substitute against Toulouse, after he committed a professional foul on Toulouse's Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro.[12] Mendy would be given a two-match ban, and later missed a further 13 games for Marseille after picking up a hamstring injury against Caen in the Coupe de France on 3 January 2016.[13]

Mendy played for five different managers in three seasons at the Stade Vélodrome. He made 101 competitive appearances with the club and had 14 assists to his name.

Monaco
Mendy playing for Monaco in 2016

On 22 June 2016, Olympique de Marseille's Ligue 1 rivals Monaco announced that they had signed Mendy on a five-year contract.[14] Mendy made his debut for the club in the first leg of the Champions League third round against Turkish side Fenerbahçe on 27 July. On 18 December against Lyon in Ligue 1, Mendy was shown a red card for kicking at the backside of Lyon midfielder Corentin Tolisso. This was his second dismissal of the season after he was sent off in the play-off round of the Champions League against Villarreal.[15] Mendy was banned five matches for the incident, later reduced to four as he made his return against Lorient on 22 January 2017.[16][17]

On 4 February, Mendy assisted two of Monaco's goals by crossing the ball to the scorers Valère Germain and Radamel Falcao in their 3–0 Ligue 1 home win over Nice.[18] Mendy scored his first goal for Monaco in the Coupe de France against former club Marseille on 1 March. The goal, scored in extra time, gave Monaco a 3–2 lead, as Mendy also provided two assists in the 4–3 victory.[19] Monaco made a run to the semi-finals of the Champions League, and Mendy provided 4 assists in the campaign before they were eliminated by Juventus.

Mendy was a key part of Monaco's 2016–17 Ligue 1 championship season, making 24 starts in the league for Les Monégasques under manager Leonardo Jardim. Monaco scored a league-leading 107 goals during the season, and Mendy was noted along with fellow full-back Djibril Sidibe for their forward play.[20][21] On 16 May, Mendy was named to the 2017 UNFP Team of the Year, along with 5 of his teammates.[22] The next day, Monaco clinched the Ligue 1 title against Saint-Étienne on the penultimate day of the season, their first in 17 seasons in what would be Mendy's final game with the club.[20] After the season, Mendy was part of the exodus away from the Stade Louis II that included starlets Bernardo Silva, Tiémoué Bakayoko, and later Kylian Mbappé.[23][24]

Manchester City

On 24 July 2017, it was announced that Premier League side Manchester City had signed Mendy on a five-year contract,[25] for a fee reported to be £52m.[26] The transfer fee eclipsed the previous record for a defender, set 10 days prior by City on teammate Kyle Walker. On 23 September, Mendy sustained an injury against Crystal Palace, hurting his right knee on a challenge against Palace forward Andros Townsend.[27] The club later confirmed that Mendy had ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, and he underwent surgery in Barcelona on 29 September.[28] Mendy returned from injury on 22 April 2018 as a 75th minute substitute for Fabian Delph in a game against Swansea City at the City of Manchester Stadium.[29] This appearance gave him the minimum 5 league games required to receive a Premier League winners' medal. In the 2018/19 season, Mendy played in 10 of the first 12 Premier League games for Manchester City, assisting 5 goals in the process.[30] On 14 November 2018, just days after the 3–1 win against Manchester United, it was announced Mendy had once again undergone surgery[31] in Barcelona for a cartilage problem in his left knee, and he was expected to be out for 12 weeks.[32]

On 28 November 2020, Mendy scored his first goal for City in a 5–0 home league win over Burnley.[33]

International career
Mendy (centre) holding the FIFA World Cup Trophy

Youth

Mendy is a French youth international having represented his nation at under-16 and under-17 level. In 2011, he was a part of the under-17 team that reached the quarter-finals at the 2011 U-17 World Cup.

Senior

Mendy was called up to the senior France squad for the first time to face Luxembourg and Spain in March 2017.[34] He made his debut on 25 March 2017 against the former, playing the whole game in a 3–1 2018 World Cup qualification away win.[35]

On 17 May 2018, he was called up to the French squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[36]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 23 January 2021.
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Le Havre II 2010–11[3] CFA 100————100
2012–13[3] CFA 20————20
Total 120————120
Le Havre 2011–12[3] Ligue 2 2902010——320
2012–13[3] Ligue 2 2803010——320
Total 5705020——640
Marseille II 2013–14[3] CFA2 20————20
Marseille 2013–14[3] Ligue 1 24120212[lower-alpha 3]0—302
2014–15[3] Ligue 1 3301010——350
2015–16[3] Ligue 1 24140107[lower-alpha 4]0—361
Total 812704190—1013
Monaco 2016–17[3] Ligue 1 250212010[lower-alpha 3]0—391
Manchester City 2017–18[37] Premier League 7000001[lower-alpha 3]0—80
2018–19[38] Premier League 10010102[lower-alpha 3]01[lower-alpha 5]0150
2019–20[39] Premier League 19030206[lower-alpha 3]000300
2020–21[40] Premier League 6120201[lower-alpha 3]0—111
Total 421605010010641
Career total 2193201131290102825
  1. Includes Coupe de France, FA Cup
  2. Includes Coupe de la Ligue, EFL Cup
  3. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. Appearance in FA Community Shield

International
As of match played 17 November 2019.[41][42]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
France 201740
201850
201910
Total100

Honours

Monaco

Manchester City

France

Individual

Orders

References
  1. "Décret du 31 décembre 2018 portant promotion et nomination" [Decree of 31 December 2018 on promotion and appointment]. Official Journal of the French Republic (in French). 2019 (1). 1 January 2019. PRER1835394D. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  2. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of players: France" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  3. Benjamin Mendy at Soccerway. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  4. "Benjamin Mendy signe pro pour 3 saisons". Le Havre AC (in French). 24 July 2011. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  5. "Amiens v. Le Havre Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  6. "Transfer news: Marseille agree deal for Sunderland target Benjamin Mendy". Sky Sports. 8 July 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  7. Akouete, Isidore (13 July 2013). "ELIE BAUP : " BENJAMIN MENDY EST UN JOUEUR D'AVENIR "". Africa Top Sports (in French).
  8. "Elie Baup sacked as Marseille manager". BBC Sport. 7 December 2013.
  9. "Di Meco prend les paris contre Mendy". Le Phocéen (in French). 22 April 2014.
  10. Aarons, Ed (30 October 2014). "Five English players on 40-man shortlist for Golden Boy award". The Guardian.
  11. "Benjamin Mendy en toute insouciance". Le Parisien (in French). 20 December 2014.
  12. PA Sport (23 September 2015). "Toulouse 1–1 Marseille". ESPN FC.
  13. "MENDY JOINS OM INJURY LIST". Ligue 1. 6 January 2016.
  14. "Benjamin Mendy signs on a five-year contract". AS Monaco. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  15. "Form and head to head stats - Monaco vs Lyon". skysports.com. Sky UK. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  16. Recchimuzzi, Silvia (23 December 2016). "AS Monaco defender Mendy banned for five matches". Reuters.
  17. "Benjamin Mendy de retour de suspension avec Monaco". L'Équipe (in French). 21 January 2017.
  18. "Falcao at the double as Monaco power on". www.ligue1.com. 4 February 2017.
  19. "Monaco down Marseille in French Cup thriller, PSG through". Eurosport. Reuters. 2 March 2017.
  20. Pretot, Julien (17 May 2017). "Monaco claim first title in 17 years with St Etienne win". Reuters.
  21. Jones, Matt (17 May 2017). "Monaco Win 2016–17 Ligue 1 Title After 2–0 Win vs. Saint-Etienne". Bleacher Report.
  22. "Ligue 1 Team of the Season 2016–17 Official- UNFP Team of the Year 2017". French Football Daily. 16 May 2017.
  23. Devin, Eric (25 July 2017). "How will Monaco cope after losing so many of their title-winning stars?". The Guardian.
  24. Johnson, Jonathan (31 August 2017). "Monaco star Kylian Mbappe, 18, follows Neymar in moving to PSG in huge deal". ESPN FC.
  25. "Man City sign Benjamin Mendy". Manchester City Official Website. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  26. "Benjamin Mendy: Man City sign Monaco defender for £52m". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  27. Sunderland, Tom (23 September 2017). "Benjamin Mendy Suffers Knee Injury vs. Crystal Palace". Bleacher Report.
  28. Jackson, Jamie (28 September 2017). "Manchester City confirm Benjamin Mendy has ruptured ACL in right knee". The Guardian.
  29. "Benjamin Mendy eager to City place back as he hails Fabian Delph's form in his absence".
  30. "Benjamin Mendy Statistics | Premier League". www.premierleague.com. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  31. "Mendy undergoes knee surgery". MCFC. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  32. Lee, Sam. "Mendy out for up to three months with latest knee injury". Goal. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  33. "Man City 5–0 Burnley: Riyad Mahrez hat-trick in dominant win". BBC Sport. 28 November 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  34. "Monaco star Mbappé given maiden France call-up". goal.com. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  35. "Luxembourg vs. France – 25 March 2017 – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  36. Andy Charles (21 May 2018). "Alexandre Lacazette and Anthony Martial on standby for France World Cup squad and Dimitri Payet out". Sky Sports. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  37. "Games played by Benjamin Mendy in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  38. "Games played by Benjamin Mendy in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  39. "Games played by Benjamin Mendy in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  40. "Games played by Benjamin Mendy in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  41. "Benjamin Mendy – national football team player". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  42. Mendy, Benjamin at National-Football-Teams.com
  43. "Benjamin Mendy: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  44. McNulty, Phil (1 March 2020). "Aston Villa 1–2 Manchester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  45. Bevan, Chris (5 August 2018). "Chelsea 0–2 Manchester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  46. "France 4–2 Croatia: Line-ups". FIFA. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  47. "Trophées UNFP : Le Palmarès Complet de l'Édition 2017". Retrieved 15 May 2017.
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