Manchester City announce £49.2m signing of Benjamin Mendy

Posted Tuesday, July 25, 2017 by Skysports.com

Manchester City announce £49.2m signing of Benjamin Mendy
France international Benjamin Mendy has signed a five-year deal

Manchester City have announced the signing of left-back Benjamin Mendy for £49.2m on a five-year deal.

The 23-year-old France international flew to Los Angeles to undergo a medical and compete the deal on Sunday ahead of joining-up with City's pre-season tour of the United States.

Mendy had been City's first-choice target for a new left-back and joins fellow new full-backs Kyle Walker and Danilo through the door at the Etihad, as City take their summer spending past the £200m mark.

Manchester City announce £49.2m signing of Benjamin Mendy
Benjamin Mendy is a France international who had a superb season for Monaco

Mendy said: "I am very proud. This is what I wanted from the very beginning. As soon as the championship was over, I talked to my family and it was all clear in my head: I wanted to join Manchester City.

"I think I am the right person for the group. I am easily adaptable. There are some players with whom I exchanged a few emails, I knew them from some years ago.

"Regarding football, I can bring a lot of creativity in the game, I can offer different solutions, I like to take to play as full-back and provide assists for the strikers."

Manchester City announce £49.2m signing of Benjamin Mendy
Pep Guardiola has taken his summer spending to over £200m

Director of football Txiki Begiristain said: "Benjamin has all the qualities we are looking for in a full-back. For such a young player, he has a wealth of top-level experience"

Mendy has emerged as one of the best left-backs in Europe despite just a single season at Monaco following a £13m move from Marseille last summer, and was one of a number of Monaco players of interest to other clubs following their French Ligue 1 triumph.

City have already signed Bernardo Silva from Monaco and are also interested in their highly-coveted striker Kylian Mbappe.