Ex-Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy is chasing millions of pounds of back pay from his former club and is selling his house in a bid to avoid bankruptcy, the High Court has heard.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is seeking a bankruptcy order against the France international over a nearly £800,000 tax debt, a specialist judge was told.
The hearing in London on Wednesday comes less than a month after the 29-year-old was cleared of rape and attempted rape at Chester Crown Court.
Jacquille Jarrett, representing HMRC, said proceedings at the Insolvency and Companies Court had previously been postponed pending the outcome of the criminal trial and for a settlement of Mendy’s debt from backdated salary or the sale of his property.
“There has been no contact from the debtor,” Jarrett said, adding: “The agreement advises that an update would be given to HMRC but no contact was made.
“We look to secure a bankruptcy order today.”
Mendy’s accountant, who refused to give reporters his full name, told the hearing the now Lorient defender “was found not guilty in respect of those very serious criminal charges against him”.
He said Manchester City had not paid Mendy, who was not present at Wednesday’s hearing, since September 2021.
The accountant said Mendy’s agent is “in negotiations with Manchester City to get the back pay on the basis that he has been found not guilty”.
The sum is “in the order of nine to 10 million pounds gross”, the accountant told the court.
He also said Mendy’s house in Cheshire is being marketed by estate agent Savills for £5million.
“He himself has moved back to France where he comes from,” the accountant said.
“I would like to ask for a short extension because I am told very firmly by his agent that the pay issue will be resolved from Manchester City.
“He was very short of money indeed, the cost of the legal case were over one million pounds.”
Mendy left City in June at the expiration of his contract, having not played for the European champions since August 2021.
He has since signed a two-year deal with French club Lorient.
Judge Clive Jones told Wednesday’s hearing that Mendy’s HMRC debt is £788,409.
Criticising Mendy, the judge said: “I’m very unimpressed at the lack of information that’s been provided both to HMRC and to the court prior to this hearing.
“That, I really think, is the wrong step for him to take,” he said, adding that Mendy must attend any further hearing or be legally represented.
The judge adjourned the bankruptcy proceedings to 11am on October 4 to allow Mendy to sell his house.
He said he has been told there is “more than sufficient equity in a house”, adding that “time should be given to enable payment to be made”.
“I also bear in mind that there are also negotiations in place about the backdated pay,” the judge said, adding that Mendy could be being paid “a large sum in wages” in France.
On July 14 this year, jurors found the full-back not guilty of a charge of rape and one of attempted rape, following a three-week trial at Chester Crown Court.
Mendy had been on trial for a second time, the jury failing to reach verdicts on the allegations made by two women.
In his first trial, lasting six months and ending in January, he was cleared of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, relating to four other young women or teenagers.
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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