According to reports from Mirror Football, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City are all interested in signing Monaco left-back Benjamin Mendy this summer.
What’s the word?
Amid a campaign which could end with them crowned not only French but also European champions, Monaco are very much the continent’s vogue side heading into the summer transfer window. Leonardo Jardim has created a young, attacking team that’s currently leading Ligue 1 over big-spending juggernauts PSG and making a pretty strong case for themselves in the Champions League, demolishing Manchester City in the last round to progress to the quarter-finals.
It seems virtually every member of the prodigious, forward-thinking side is being eyed by a major European club and that includes left-back Benjamin Mendy, who has grabbed five assists in 21 league appearances since joining Monaco from Marseille last summer. Mirror Football’s article focuses on Chelsea’s pursuit of the 22-year-old, who is valued at £7.65million by Transfermarkt, but also cites interest from Liverpool and Manchester City.
Can Mendy hack it in the Premier League?
The French top flight’s record of consistently producing Premier League gems has watered down a little in recent years, but the alumni is still hard to ignore – ranging from Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry to N’Golo Kante and Dimitri Payet. Ligue 1 creates players that combine physicality with technique, which naturally makes them a pretty good fit for the English game.
Mendy is another who falls into that remit; he’s quick and powerful but offers plenty on the ball as well, this season averaging one created chance, 1.5 accurate crosses and 1.6 accurate dribbles per match, and can even play in midfield. In addition to his form domestically, the youngster has shown his quality in the Champions League as well this season – perhaps the best test of whether he’s ready to make the step up to a more competitive top flight. Still aged 22, he does look like a top talent in the making.
Are full-backs the most important players on the pitch?
It’s certainly getting that way; it’s been impossible to miss the growing trend of attacking full-backs who operate almost as wingers and Mendy is yet another who belongs to that clan. Of course, not every full-back is so forward thinking but the defensive flanks have become instrumental in defining the philosophies of their teams – their balance between defence and attack tends to resonate throughout the rest of the XI. For a manager like Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp therefore, who both employ attacking styles of football, a full-back like Mendy is a must.
It’s a similar situation at Chelsea too, although Mendy would likely be utilised as a wing-back as part of Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3. He’s certainly got the attributes to play there, as a fantastic athlete who has also spent some of his career in midfield, and the Blues need an alternative to Marcos Alonso going forward, despite his strong form this season.
