Nampalys Mendy (born 23 June 1992) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. Born and raised in France, he represents

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

at international level. Due to his small stature, simple distribution, and reliable style of play, Mendy has been compared to former French international,

Claude Makélélé Claude Makélélé Sinda (born 18 February 1973) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently a youth coach and technical mentor at Chelsea, having formerly been the head co ...

. Monaco club scout

Didier Christophe Didier Christophe (born 8 December 1956) is a French former professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means t ...

, for example, referred to Mendy as a "

carbon copy Before the development of photographic copiers, a carbon copy was the under-copy of a typed or written document placed over carbon paper and the under-copy sheet itself (not to be confused with the carbon print family of photographic reproduc ...

" of Makélélé. Mendy featured in Senegal's 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Final victory against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Club career

Early career

After leaving

Sporting Toulon Sporting Club Toulon is a football club from Toulon, France, that plays in the Championnat National 2, the fourth tier of the French football league system. The club was founded in 1944 and played under that name until the 1999–2000 season ...

in June 2007, Mendy went on trial with the football section of

RC Toulon R&C, RC, R/C, Rc, or rc may refer to: Science and technology Computing * rc, the default Command line interface in Version 10 Unix and Plan 9 from Bell Labs * .rc (for "run commands"), a filename extension for configuration files in UNIX-like ...

. According to Monaco scout

, the Toulon coaches stated that Mendy was there to "make up the numbers". However, while observing Mendy in training, Christophe noticed the player's intelligence and understanding of the game and recommended him to

Dominique Bijotat Dominique Bijotat (born 3 January 1961) is a French Association football, football manager and former professional player who played as a midfielder. He obtained eight international caps (no goals) for the France national football team, Fr ...

, who was serving as head of the Monaco youth academy.

Monaco

On 27 April 2010, Mendy signed his first professional contract, agreeing to a three-year deal with

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

until June 2013. In July 2010, he was called up to the first team by manager

Guy Lacombe Guy Hubert Georges Lacombe (born 12 June 1955) is a French football manager and former professional player. Playing career Lacombe was a member of the French squad that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. ...

for pre-season training, again to make up the numbers with Lacombe missing several players such as Diego Pérez,

Nicolas Nkoulou Nicolas Julio Nkoulou Ndoubena (born 27 March 1990), known as Nicolas Nkoulou, is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Super League Greece club Aris. Nkoulou began his career in the French league with Monaco, where ...

Park Chu-young Park Chu-young (; ; also romanised as Park Ju-young; born 10 July 1985) is a South Korean footballer who plays for Ulsan Hyundai as a forward. Club career FC Seoul In February 2005, Park joined a K League club FC Seoul with the highest sa ...

, and

Lukman Haruna Lukman Abdulkarim Haruna (born 4 December 1990) is a Nigerian former Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career In December 2007, AS Monaco FC, AS Monaco signed Haruna on a four-year contract. In June 2011, he sig ...

, who had all participated in the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. On 7 August 2010, Mendy made his professional debut in the club's opening league match against

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. He played the entire 90 minutes, receiving a yellow card in the second half. Mendy picked up his first ever red card on 19 August 2011 against Amiens SC, sent off at the 70th minute mark in a 1–1 draw. During the 2012–13 season, Mendy played a key role in Monaco's promotion back to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

. Despite the successful season, Mendy decided to leave Monaco at the end of the season after his contract expired.

Nice

Mendy was linked to teams such as

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Despite calling Manchester United his "dream club", Mendy rejected the move to the English side because he wanted to stay in France. After some positive talks with Nice's manager,

Claude Puel Claude Jacques Puel (; born 2 September 1961) is a French football manager and former player. He spent his entire playing career with Monaco, before becoming manager of the club, leading them to the league title in his first full season in char ...

, Mendy decided to join

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. ...

on a free transfer. Mendy made his debut on 17 August 2013, in a 2–1 win against

Stade Rennais Stade Rennais Football Club (), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and pl ...

. After club captain

Didier Digard Didier Frédéric Thierry Digard (born 12 July 1986) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Championnat National 3 side Nice B and who is the currently caretaker manager Ligue 1 club of Nice. As a ...

left for

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

on a free transfer at the end of 2014–15 season, and new captain

Mathieu Bodmer Mathieu Bodmer (born 22 November 1982) is a French retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder. A former French youth international, he is known for his technique, playmaking skills and striking ability. Club career Early career ...

was injured, Mendy was named captain. Mendy made 110 appearances in three seasons for

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

and helped them to a fourth-place finish in

in 2015–16. He had the second highest number of passes behind

Thiago Motta Thiago Motta (; ; born 28 August 1982) is a professional football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of club Bologna. A midfielder, Motta spent his early career at Barcelona, where he was injury-prone. He played two and ...

(2950), the most passes per game (78), and a passing accuracy of (92%), best of any player not a member of

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

Leicester City

On 3 July 2016, Mendy moved to English

champions

, managed by his former boss at Monaco,

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023. Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in ...

, signing a four-year deal for £13 million, a club record at the time. The transfer record was broken again when

Ahmed Musa Ahmed Musa (born 14 October 1992) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward and left winger for Turkish Süper Lig club Sivasspor and the Nigeria national team. Musa became the first Nigerian to score more than once in a F ...

joined Leicester for £16 million five days later, and yet again less than two months later when

Islam Slimani Islam Slimani ( ar, إسلام سليماني; born 18 June 1988) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Brest and the Algeria national team. Slimani began his career in his homeland with JSM Chéraga and C ...

joined Leicester for £29 million. Mendy played his first competitive game for Leicester in a 2–1 defeat to

in the

2016 FA Community Shield The 2016 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield supported by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 94th FA Community Shield, an annual English football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier Le ...

on 7 August, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute for

Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to: * Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist * Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist * Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...

. He suffered an ankle injury on his league debut at home against

on 20 August 2016 and was substituted in the 53rd minute. Mendy was sidelined for more than three months, and did not make his return until 7 December 2016 in a Champions League

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

match away to

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, playing the entire game in a 5–0 defeat. He ultimately made only four league appearances for the season. On 31 July 2017, Mendy rejoined

on loan. On 24 August 2020, Mendy signed a two-year contract extension with the club. On 10 September 2021, Mendy was left out of Leicester's final 25-man Premier League squad for the 2021–22 season. However he was then included again when the squad was updated after the January 2022 transfer window. Mendy scored his first goal for Leicester against

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

on 11 February 2023.

International career

Mendy was born in France, and is of Senegalese descent. Mendy is a former French youth international having earned caps at the under-17, under-18, and under-19 levels. With the under-17 team, he went unnoticed by coach

Philippe Bergeroo Philippe Bergeroo (born 28 January 1954) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. For France, he earned a total number of three international caps during the late 1970s, early 1980s. He was a member of the French sq ...

until the

2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the eighth edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship since it was renamed from the original under-16 event, in 2001. Germany hosted the championship, during 6 to 18 May 2009, in thir ...

when he was finally called up to the team. Mendy appeared in all three group stage matches as France were eliminated without winning a match. With the under-18 team, he made his debut on 29 October 2009 in a friendly match against the

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. Mendy was initially called up to the under-19 team in August 2010 only to play in the Sendai Cup in Japan, but due to his consistent performances domestically, Monaco coach Guy Lacombe convinced Bergeroo to make him a permanent part of the squad. He was officially called up to the under-19 team for

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

matches for the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. Mendy made his debut with the team in a 3–0 victory over

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

and appeared as a starter in the next two qualification matches against

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, as France won both matches to finish the round undefeated. On 9 November 2010, while still eligible to represent the under-19 and under-20 teams, Mendy was called up to the under-21 team for a friendly match against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. In March 2021, Mendy received a first call-up to the Senegal national team, making his debut in a goalless draw with Congo.

Personal life

Mendy is the cousin of fellow footballers

Bafétimbi Gomis Bafétimbi Gomis (; born 6 August 1985) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Galatasaray. Gomis played youth football with Saint-Étienne before making his professional debut for the club in 2004, als ...

and Alexandre Mendy.

Style of play

Mendy is a defensive midfielder known for his resilience, intelligence, and good distribution of the ball. Despite his age and size, Mendy has been praised for his mature and robust play, inviting comparison with former France international

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Monaco *

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

: 2012–13 Leicester City *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Senegal *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Individual *Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendy, Nampalys 1992 births Living people People from La Seyne-sur-Mer Sportspeople from Var (department) French footballers France youth international footballers France under-21 international footballers Citizens of Senegal through descent Senegalese footballers Senegal international footballers Association football midfielders AS Monaco FC players OGC Nice players Leicester City F.C. players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Premier League players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Africa Cup of Nations-winning players French expatriate footballers Senegalese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in England Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England French sportspeople of Senegalese descent Footballers from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur