Man City sign Monaco defender for £52m

24th Jul 2017 | Source: BBC

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 with the club.

Mendy is City's fifth major signing of the summer and takes 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.

He is the Premier League club's fifth major signing of the summer following the recruitment of 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.

Who is Benjamin Mendy?

Born in Longjumeau - a suburb of Paris
Signed for Monaco in June 2016 for a reported £11m
Has made four appearances for senior side
Has represented France's youth sides (under-16, 17, 18, 19 and 21)

City's lavish spending on defence

The arrival of Mendy leaves Manchester City with the most expensive defensive line-up in world football.

When Ederson moved to the club from Benfica earlier this summer, his move was a world record for a keeper in sterling, although not in euros.

Mendy and Walker have been added to a backline which also includes centre-back John Stones, who was bought for £47.5m from Everton last summer, with the trio making up three of the world's five most expensive defenders.

Central defenders Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala, who spent last season on loan at Valencia, also joined City for fees believed to be in the region of £32m.