Nampalys Mendy

Nampalys Mendy
Personal information
Full name Nampalys Mendy
Date of birth (1992-06-23) 23 June 1992
Place of birth La Seyne-sur-Mer, France
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Playing position Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Leicester City
Number 24
Youth career
1998–1999 La Beaucaire Toulon
1999–2001 Toulon Le Las
2001–2005 RCF Toulon
2005–2007 Toulon
2007–2010 Monaco
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2012 Monaco B 12 (0)
2010–2013 Monaco 74 (0)
2013–2016 Nice 110 (1)
2016– Leicester City 1 (0)
National team‡
2009 France U18 3 (0)
2010–2011 France U19 8 (0)
2011–2013 France U20 13 (0)
2010–2014 France U21 5 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:50, 20 August 2016 (UTC).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:03, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

Nampalys Mendy (born 23 June 1992) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Leicester City.

Due to his small stature, simple distribution, and reliable style of play, has been compared to former French international, Claude Makélélé whom Monaco club scout Didier Christophe referred to Mendy as a "carbon copy" of.[1] Mendy is a French youth international having earned caps at under-17, under-18 level, and under-19 level. He played with the under-17 team at the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship.

Club career

Early career

After leaving Sporting Toulon in June 2007, Mendy went on trial with the football section of RC Toulon. According to Monaco scout Didier Christophe, he was told by the club coaches that Mendy was there to "make up the numbers". However, while training, Christophe noticed the player's intelligence and understanding of the game and recommended him to Dominique Bijotat, who was serving as head of the Monaco youth academy on the basis of Mendy having significant potential.[1]

Monaco

On 27 April 2010, Mendy signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with Monaco until June 2013.[2][3] In July 2010, he was called up to the first team by manager Guy Lacombe for pre-season training, again to make up the numbers with Lacombe missing several players such as Diego Pérez, Nicolas N'Koulou, Park Chu-Young, and Lukman Haruna, who had all participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[1]

On 7 August 2010, Mendy made his professional debut in the club's opening league match against Lyon. He started the match and played the entire 90 minutes receiving a yellow card in the second half.[4][5] Mendy picked up his first ever red card on 19 August 2011 against Amiens SC, being sent off at the 70th minute as Monaco draw 1–1.[6]

During the 2012-13 season, Mendy played a key role in the success of Monaco's promote back to Ligue 1. Despite the successful season, Mendy decided to leave Monaco at the end of the season after his contract expired.[7]

Nice

After he announced that he would not sign a contract extension with Monaco, he was linked to teams such as Manchester United and Arsenal.[8] Despite calling Manchester United as his "dream club", Mendy rejected the move to the English side because he wanted to stay in France.[9] After some positive talks with Nice's manager, Claude Puel, decided to join OGC Nice on a free transfer.[10]

Mendy made his debut on 17 August 2013, in a 2–1 against Stade Rennais.[11] After club captain, Didier Digard left for Real Betis on a free transfer at the end of 2014-15 season[12] and new captain Mathieu Bodmer injured, Mendy was named captain.[13]

Mendy made 110 appearances in three seasons for Nice and captained them to an fourth-placed finish in Ligue 1 in 2015-16.[14]

Leicester City

On 3 July 2016, Mendy transferred from Nice to Premier League champions Leicester City, signing a four-year deal, for a then club-record £13 million. Joining the Premier League champions also meant that Mendy is reunited with his former manager during his time at Monaco, Claudio Ranieri. [15][16] This record was broken again when Ahmed Musa joined Leicester for £16 million five days later.[17]

International career

Mendy is a French youth international having earned caps at under-17, under-18 level, and under-19 level. With the under-17 team, he went unnoticed by coach Philippe Bergeroo until the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship when he was finally called up to the team. Mendy appeared in all three group stage matches as France were eliminated without procuring a victory. With the under-18 team, he made his debut on 29 October 2009 in a friendly match against the Denmark.[18]

Mendy was initially called up to the under-19 team in August 2010 to play in the Sendai Cup in Japan, however, due to his consistent performances domestically, Monaco coach Guy Lacombe convince Bergeroo to change his stance.[1] He was officially called up to the under-19 team for qualification matches for the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. Mendy made his debut with the team in a 3–0 victory over San Marino and, subsequently, appeared as a starter in the next two qualification matches against Montenegro and Austria with France winning both matches to finish the round undefeated.[19][20][21]

On 9 November 2010, Mendy, despite still being eligible to represent the under-19 and under-20 teams, was called up to the under-21 team for a friendly match against Russia.[22]

Style of play

Mendy is defensive midfielder who has been known for his resilience, intelligence and distribution of the ball. Despite his age and size, Mendy has been praised with how mature he is and how physical he is. Since his time at Monaco, Mendy has drawn comparison with former France international Claude Makélélé.[23]

Career statistics

As of 20 August 2016[24]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Monaco B 2010–11 CFA 80———80
2011–12 CFA 20———20
2012–13 CFA 20———20
Total 120———120
Monaco 2010–11 Ligue 1 140001000150
2011–12 Ligue 2 280001000290
2012–13 Ligue 2 320004000360
Total 740006000800
Nice 2013–14 Ligue 1 360302020430
2014–15 Ligue 1 360101000380
2015–16 Ligue 1 381101000401
Total 11015040201211
Leicester City 2016–17 Premier League 1000000010
Career total 197150100202141

Honours

Monaco[25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Nampalys Mendy, un petit futur grand" (in French). Planete ASM. 18 September 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  2. ↑ "Premier contrat professionnel pour Nampalys Mendy". Le Parisien (in French). 27 April 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  3. ↑ "Nampalys Mendy passe pro". L'Equipe (in French). 27 April 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "F. Bulot et N. Mendy : Premières en L1". AS Monaco FC (in French). 7 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  5. ↑ "Lyon v. Monaco Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  6. ↑ "Monaco vs. Amiens SC 1 - 1 (8/11/11)". Soccerway. 11 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "Nampalys Mendy: Nice right move". ESPN. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  8. ↑ "Nampalys Mendy: Nice right move". ESPN. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  9. ↑ "Mendy: Man United my 'dream club'". ESPN. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "Nice midfielder Nanpalys Mendy denies Manchester United link". SkySports. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "Nice vs. Rennes 2 - 1 (8/17/13)". 17 August 2013.
  12. ↑ "Real Betis signs Didier Digard for the next three seasons". 8 July 2015.
  13. ↑ "Bodmer, Pouplin join Nice injury list". Yahoo Sports. 10 August 2015.
  14. ↑ "Nampalys Mendy can be Leicester's unlikely hero with or without Kante". Retrieved 2016-07-08.
  15. ↑ "Nampalys Mendy: Leicester City sign midfielder from Nice". Retrieved 2016-07-08.
  16. ↑ "Leicester City sign Nampalys Mendy from OGC Nice on four-year deal". Retrieved 2016-07-08.
  17. ↑ "Leicester City seal signing of Nigeria's Ahmed Musa from CSKA Moscow". Retrieved 2016-07-08.
  18. ↑ "France v. Denmark Match Report". French Football Federation. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  19. ↑ "France v. San Marino Match Report". Union of European Football Associations. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  20. ↑ "France v. Montenegro Match Report". Union of European Football Associations. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  21. ↑ "Austria v. France Match Report". Union of European Football Associations. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  22. ↑ "Nampalys Mendy avec les Bleuets". AS Monaco FC (in French). 11 November 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  23. ↑ "'New Makelele' Mendy thrilled to reunite with Ranieri at Leicester". 1 July 2016.
  24. ↑ "N. MENDY". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  25. ↑ "N. MENDY". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
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