The former Manchester City defender, Benjamin Mendy, has launched legal action against the club in an attempt to reclaim lost earnings of up to £10m.
Mendy was suspended by City in August 2021 after being charged with four counts of rape and did not play for the club again before leaving in June 2023.
From September 2021 until the expiry of his contract City did not pay the former France defender because they deemed him unavailable for work during his bail and subsequent trial and retrial.
Mendy spent more than four months in custody before being released on bail in January 2022. His bail conditions stipulated he could not enter the county of Greater Manchester, where City train and play home matches, and he was required to surrender his passport. City are understood to be surprised their former employee is taking action.
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The 29-year-old was found not guilty at Chester crown court in January of raping four women and sexually assaulting another. Following the conclusion a retrial over two outstanding charges of rape and attempted rape he was acquitted in July.
“Nick De Marco KC (instructed by Laffer Abogados, Madrid) is acting for the former Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy in a multimillion-pound claim for unauthorised deductions from wages,” read a statement sent to the Guardian.
“Manchester City FC failed to pay Mr Mendy any wages at all from September 2021, following Mr Mendy being charged with various offences 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 signed for the Ligue 1 side Lorient in July, and since the conclusion of his retrial, he and his agent contacted City over recouping what they claim are lost earnings believed to be between £9m and £10m gross.
As no agreement has been reached between the two parties, the matter is now set to go before an employment tribunal.
HM Revenue and Customs, meanwhile, have sought a bankruptcy order against the France international over a tax debt of nearly £800,000. During a high court hearing over the debt on 4 October, Louis Doyle KC, representing Mendy, said: “He is embarrassed about the fact that he is not able to discharge it quicker than he is able to. He is saying: ‘I want to pay as quickly as I can, I realise that I am in difficulty.’”
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The barrister added: “This is perhaps, if not the last chance saloon, it is close to last orders at the last chance saloon.”
The case was adjourned last month for four months, with the intention of allowing time for Mendy to settle the dispute over with City.
When Mendy joined City from Monaco for £53m in 2017 he became the most expensive full-back in world football, signing a six-year contract estimated to be worth £28m.
He won three Premier League titles and two League Cups under Pep Guardiola. The left-back has won 10 caps for France and was part of the squad that won the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia.
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