Benjamin Mendy signs for Lorient after sex trial

<p>Benjamin Mendy signed for French club Lorient on Wednesday after the former Manchester City and France defender was acquitted in a sex offences trial in England last week.</p>, <p>“Lorient are happy to announce today the signing on a two-year deal of the French international left-back Benjamin Mendy,” the Ligue 1 club said in a statement.</p>, <p>Mendy, 29, was cleared of sex offences last week, ending a three-year court process.</p>, <p>The player, who would have faced a lengthy jail term if convicted, had previously been cleared in January of six counts of rape and one of sexual assault following a six-month trial.</p>, <p>But jurors in that trial had been unable to reach a verdict on two other counts, triggering the retrial that ended last week.</p>, <p>Mendy, whose contract with English and European champions Manchester City expired at the end of June, had denied all the charges against him.</p>, <p>Lorient, 10th behind champions Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 last season, said Mendy would start training from Wednesday after taking a medical.</p>, <p>His arrival at the club comes almost two years after his last match for Manchester City.</p>, <p>Last Friday, at Chester Crown Court in northwest England, the 2018 World Cup winner broke down after the not-guilty verdicts on one count of rape and one of sexual assault were delivered.</p>, <p>Mendy, a record signing for a defender when he moved to Manchester City from French club Monaco in 2017, played 75 times for City.</p>, <p>But his playing time was limited by injuries and a loss of form.</p>, <p>The last of his 10 caps for France came in November 2019, after the defender won the World Cup with the national side in 2018 in Russia.</p>, <p>The trials meant that he missed Manchester City’s treble last season of the English Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.</p>, <p>AFP</p>