By Jack Gaughan for the Daily Mail and Nathan Salt For Mailonline
22:30 20 Nov 2023, updated 23:59 20 Nov 2023
- Manchester City stopped paying Benjamin Mendy’s wages in September 2021
- He has now reportedly lodged a claim against City with an Employment Tribunal
- A ref had metal plates after a broken jaw and feared being followed home – IAKO
Benjamin Mendy is suing Manchester City for £10million in unpaid wages after they stopped paying the Frenchman during his trial for sex offences.
Mendy, 29, was cleared of rape and attempted rape at a retrial last summer but City had stopped paying his £100,000-a-week wages in September 2021.
Mendy’s agent had discussed back pay with City following his retrial but the club had no intention of settling with the left back, whose last game for them came a fortnight before he was charged by Cheshire Police.
The World Cup winner, who admitted to disrespecting women during the trial, signed for Lorient on a free transfer after his City contract expired in June.
A statement from Nick De Marco KC, who is acting on behalf of Mendy, read: ‘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.’
HMRC has been seeking a bankruptcy order against Mendy over a £788,000 tax debt, with those proceedings having been postponed during the trial.
Mendy’s legal bill for the trial is estimated at over £1m and he has been attempting to sell his £5m house in Prestbury. City declined to comment.
Earlier this month it was revealed that Mendy slashed a mega £750,000 off the £5m asking price for his Cheshire mansion in a bid to beat bankruptcy.
MailOnline reported in August that Mendy had put the swanky mansion up for £5m following his move to Ligue 1 side Lorient, where he is looking to rebuild his career after two criminal trials.
But now the 29-year-old is desperate to sell up, and has reduced the asking price to £4.25m, according to The Sun.
It comes months after the High Court heard that Mendy was selling his house and was chasing millions of pounds in back pay from City to avoid bankruptcy. Two offers had been made on the property but the asking price has since been reduced.
Addressing Mendy’s debt, with a bankruptcy order of almost £800,000, Mr Doyle 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’.’
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
