Sunderland’s deal to sign Alexandre Mendy has stalled, with Kylian Mbappe’s family hoping to convince the 30-year-old to stay in France.
The Black Cats seemed to have wrapped up a deal for the French-born forward, with reports on Friday indicating that Mendy had flown to the North East to complete his medical after opting for a move to Wearside after rejecting advances from Sampdoria and the Saudi League.
The Mbappe family, including Kylian, are currently embroiled in a potential takeover of Mendy’s current club Caen, where he netted 22 times in Ligue 2 last season, and hope to meet with the Guinea-Bissau international to prevent him from completing his transfer to Sunderland.
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Mendy, cousin of former Swansea man Bafetimbi Gomis, has not travelled with Caen for pre-season and a deal in the region of £4million was expected to be completed with direct comparisons made French media with Jermain Defoe. This kind of comparison, made by French-based journalist Luke Entwhistle, rightly excited Sunderland supporters with a goalscoring striker a high priority this summer.
Mendy himself spoke to Foot Mercato of a Sunderland deal being all but wrapped up: “By the time Sunderland arrived, there was no more debate. I could have gone into exile in Saudi Arabia with the idea of a golden retirement, but I still have things to do in football.”
The deal however may now fall into disrepute with less than two weeks until the start of the Championship campaign. While Luis Hemir has enjoyed an impressive pre-season, and the signing of Ian Poveda will add some flair to a Sunderland attack that was rather toothless last season, the Wearsiders will have to refocus if they are to lose out on Mendy and remain in the pursuit of guaranteed goals.
