20 November 2023 , 16:15
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Benjamin Mendy has launched a “multi-million pound” claim against Manchester City over wages that were unpaid during his time awaiting trial for a number of sex offences.
The French defender, now playing for Lorient, was acquitted of all charges brought against him earlier this year. And Mendy, 29, has now filed a complaint with an employment tribunal with regards to "unauthorised deductions from wages" after he was charged with rape and sexual assault in 2021. He left City when his contract expired at the end of June this year.
He is being represented in the action by Nick De Marco KC and a statement confirming the proceedings said: "Manchester City FC failed to pay Mr Mendy any wages at all from September 2021, following Mr Mendy being charged with various offence all of which he was subsequently acquitted of, until the end of his contract in June 2023. The claim will come before an Employment Tribunal."
Mendy was found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault at the conclusion of an initial trial in January and he was then acquitted of two remaining charges in a retrial at Chester crown court in June.
Manchester City have not commented on the latest development. Mendy joined the club in 2017 from Monaco in a deal worth £52m and won the Premier League title on three occasions at the club.
Mendy found not guilty on seven counts but faces retrial over two rape claims
In August the high court heard that HM Revenue and Customs was seeking a bankruptcy order against the full back over a tax debt of nearly £800,000.
However an accountant on behalf of Mendy, who did not attend the hearing, told the court that the footballer was “in negotiations with Manchester City to get the back pay on the basis that he has been found not guilty." The accountant, who would not give his full name to media, said that the full sum Mendy was looking to be paid was "£9-10m gross."
“He himself has moved back to France where he comes from,” the accountant said. “I would like to ask for a short extension because I am told very firmly by his agent that the pay issue will be resolved from Manchester City. He was very short of money indeed, the cost of the legal case were over £1m.”
Benjamin Mendy in action for Lorient against Monaco in September. (AFP via Getty Images)The accountant also said that Mendy was selling his Cheshire mansion with a listed price of £5m.
Judge Clive Jones told August's hearing that Mendy’s HMRC debt was £788,409. Criticising Mendy, the judge said: “I’m very unimpressed at the lack of information that’s been provided both to HMRC and to the court prior to this hearing. That, I really think, is the wrong step for him to take,” he said, adding that Mendy must attend any further hearing or be legally represented."
Mendy has made three substitute appearances for new club Lorient having signed a deal with the Ligue 1 outfit shortly after his acquittal in a retrial at Chester crown court.