Nampalys Mendy after his difficult spell at Leicester: “I am living again.”

Nampalys Mendy (31) played just seven times in the Premier League for Leicester City. After the club’s relegation to the Championship, he found himself out of contract. However, the Senegalese international has bounced back at RC Lens and is now set to start in his fourth-consecutive UEFA Champions League fixture. 

In an exclusive interview with L’Équipe, Mendy retraced his difficult time at Leicester City. He was brought in to replace the arguably irreplaceable N’Golo Kanŧé, but ultimately fell short of expectations. After a good pre-season under Claudio Ranieri, he missed the season opener due to the birth of his child and then, in his first match, against Arsenal, he suffered an ankle injury that ruled him out of almost the whole season. 

The arrival of Claude Puel allowed Mendy to finally establish himself at the club, however, this good spell was all too fleeting. “Everything was going well until Puel was fired (February 2019). Another coach arrived (Brendan Rodgers) and I was progressively sidelined. I never had any feedback from him. He just repeated ‘I don’t have anything against you’. The worst thing was that when I wanted to leave, the club refused. In the end, I was just waiting for my contract to end. Honestly, I’ve been living again since that moment,” said Mendy.

Mendy added that, whilst out of contract in the summer, he “had some difficult times […] I had a few offers but not necessarily what I wanted […] I have never been scared of ending my career, but I was scared of having to sign for a club by default.”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle