£52m Mendy Joins Man City & Becomes World’s Most Expensive Defender

Benjamin Mendy has completed his £52m transfer from Monaco to Manchester City to become the world’s most expensive defender.

The 23-year-old France left-back has signed a five-year deal.

Mendy is City’s fifth major signing of the summer, taking their spending to more than £200m.

“He is undoubtedly one of the world’s best full-backs, our number one target in this position,” said director of football Txiki Begiristain.

Mendy played 34 times for Monaco last season and helped them to their first Ligue 1 title in 17 years after joining them from Marseille last summer.

City have already signed England right-back Kyle Walker for £45m, plus a potential £5m of add-ons, Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva (£43m), Brazilian keeper Ederson Moraes (£35m) and defender Danilo from Real Madrid (£26.5m).

They have sold left-back Aleksandar Kolarov, 31, to Roma for £4.5m.