"They don’t do anything with it" - Sunderland questioned over Alexandre Mendy summer pursuit | OneFootball

Sunderland made an attempt to sign Alexandre Mendy from Caen last summer

Stade Malherbe Caen manager Nicolas Seube has opened up on Sunderland’s pursuit of Alexandre Mendy this past summer, believing that the Black Cats had the cash to do a deal if they really wanted the prolific striker.

It was reported in the previous transfer window that the Black Cats had a bit of €1 million (£830,000) turned down for Mendy.

Another bid worth up to €3 million (£2.5 million) was also turned down, leading to the Championship side to pull the plug on their pursuit of the 30-year-old.

This led to Mendy remaining with the Ligue 2 side going into the new campaign, where he has gone on to make 12 appearances in the French second tier so far this season.

Nicolas Seube opens up on Sunderland’s summer pursuit of Alexandre Mendy

Seube has opened up on Sunderland’s failed pursuit of Mendy this past summer, claiming that the club did not want to meet Caen’s asking price.

The Frenchman previously spent a brief spell working as an intern over the summer at the English club as part of his coaching diploma, suggesting that a side with their infrastructure could have found a way to get a deal like this over the line.

“They have big means, which is logical given the amounts of their TV rights,” Seube said, via Actu.fr.

“But they don’t do anything with it.

“We saw it with the Alexandre Mendy case, they had set an amount and did not want to exceed it.

“It’s a club with very large infrastructures, even in the second division.

“Régis Le Bris welcomed me very well and I was able to participate in everything.”

Sunderland handled Alexandre Mendy situation well

Signing Mendy would’ve gone against the profile of player that the Black Cats typically targets, as they much prefer bringing in younger talent that can grow and develop at the Stadium of Light.

But Mendy is at the opposite end of his career, meaning Sunderland should have avoided paying over the odds to sign him.

While there’s no doubt he could’ve been a useful addition, it was wise for the Championship side to stick to their guns on this one.

If Sunderland are going to go outside their usual model, it has to be absolutely worthwhile, and they obviously felt going beyond £2.5 million would be too much, which is good business thinking from Kyril-Louis Dreyfus and co.