Benjamin Mendy makes return with two-year deal with Lorient
Former Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has signed for Ligue 1 side Lorient five days after being cleared of rape.
The left-back, 29, whose City contract expired in the summer, has signed a two-year deal with the French club.
He was cleared of raping a woman and attempting to rape another at Chester Crown Court on Friday.
That followed a trial in January when Mendy was cleared of six counts of rape and one of sexual assault.
Mendy became the world’s most expensive defender when City paid Monaco £52m to sign the France defender in 2017.
He won the Premier League in his first season with City before being part of the France squad that claimed the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
However, he last played competitive football in August 2021.
Mendy was arrested later that month and remanded in custody for five months before going to trial for the first time last August.
