Official | Benjamin Mendy leaves Lorient to join FC Zurich | OneFootball

After terminating his contract 18 months following his arrival at the club, Benjamin Mendy (30) has left Ligue 2 side Lorient to join Swiss outfit FC Zurich – as announced by a club communiqué.After playing 15 games for Les Merlus following his return to football at the tail end of last season, the former AS Monaco and Manchester City defender has signed an 18-month contract with the Swiss super league side. Lorient and Mendy today reached an agreement to terminate the Frenchman’s contract.

On 14 July 2023, the former French international (10 caps) was acquitted of one count of rape and one count of attempted rape, six months after already being found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. Five days later, Lorient announced his signing of a two-season contract, until June 2025. He has not featured at all in Lorient’s Ligue 2 season under Olivier Pantaloni. Les Merlus are currently top of the league and look promising in their bid to return to Ligue 1 at the first time of asking.“In terms of the team, Mendy and the other players know that they are not players that I particularly want in the squad,” head coach Pantaloni told Ouest France in the summer. Whilst the likes of Tiemoué Bakayoko, Bamba Deing, and Isaak Touré left the club in the summer, Mendy stayed. The 2018 World Cup winner did not even set foot in the region all summer, according to Ouest-France. He had been recovering abroad from an injury he suffered on the final day of last season, and had not returned to the club until very recently to get back into shape. GFFN | George Boxall