Benjamin Mendy

When Manchester City signed Benjamin Mendy from AS Monaco on 24 July 2017, the fee was reported as £52 million (about €57.7 million). It was a world record for a defender at the time. He signed a six-year contract.

Mendy had come up quickly. He signed his first professional contract with Le Havre in July 2011 and made his debut the following month. Olympique de Marseille paid €3.5 million for him in July 2013, the same year France's Under-19 side won the European championship with him in the squad. In June 2016 he moved to Monaco for €12 million, and in 2016–17 the club won Ligue 1.

Manchester City was where the medals came. He won the Premier League in 2017–18, 2018–19 and 2020–21, and received winner's medals for all three. He won the EFL Cup in 2017–18 and 2018–19, the FA Cup in 2018–19 and 2022–23, and the Community Shield in 2018 and 2019. He was also in the squad for the 2022–23 Champions League triumph. He did not receive medals for the 2021–22 and 2022–23 league titles, because of his suspension and a lack of registration and appearances.

For France he won 10 caps between 2017 and 2019. At the 2018 World Cup, which France won, he played one match, against Denmark. That year he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour.

City suspended him in August 2021 and released him in June 2023. He then joined FC Lorient on a free transfer. In February 2025 he signed for FC Zürich, and the contract was ended by mutual consent in July after about six months and eight appearances.

On 16 September 2025 he joined Pogoń Szczecin as a free agent, on a one-year contract with an option to extend.