Manchester City has broken the world record transfer fee for a defender again, this time for Benjamin Mendy. After signing from Monaco, Mendy will become City’s first-choice left-back for the foreseeable future.
Manchester City is finally young, fast, and deep in defense
It cost a lot of money, but Pep Guardiola has turned over his old defense quickly.
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
City now has all three of the most expensive defenders in history in Mendy, John Stones, and Kyle Walker, who held the record for 10 whole days. They’ve also signed Danilo for a reported £26 million, and Ederson Moraes is the second-most expensive goalkeeper ever.
Defense has been an obvious issue for City over the past three seasons, and they’ve spent a lot to address it. But Eliaquim Mangala hasn’t met expectations, while the fullback position wasn’t addressed at all. Now Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, and Gael Clichy have all departed on free transfers, while Aleksandar Kolarov was allowed to leave cheap, and they’ve been replaced by three young stars.
This season, City won’t lack for pace and energy on the flanks, which should lead to them giving up fewer counter-attack goals. They’re heading into the Premier League season looking like the team best prepared to challenge reigning champions Chelsea.
Assist of the day
In the news
Fiorentina winger Federico Bernardeschi is at Juventus doing his medical ahead of a proposed move. (BWRAO)
Virgil Van Dijk has been left out of Southampton’s training camp, so perhaps the team has softened their stance on not selling him. (BBC)
Antonio Cassano has signed a contract with Hellas Verona, retired, returned, then left the club again all in the space of two weeks. (Guardian)
Eden Hazard is back in training after an ankle injury and should be ready for the start of the season. (Mirror)
You should be reading
Matt Stanger on China’s new transfer rules and domestic development. (The Set Pieces)
Christopher Weir on the career of River legend Ariel Ortega. (These Football Times)
Emre Sarigul on Besiktas aiming to become a global brand. (Guardian)
Fun with transfer rumors
It looks like Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez convinced Neymar to stay at Barcelona. (Sport)
But wait! Another paper says Neymar’s camp is confused by Gerard Pique’s “he stays” post on Twitter because Neymar is still interested in going to PSG. (AS)
The latest club interested in Jack Wilshere is Turkish side Antalyaspor. (Mail)
Dortmund has told Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang that they won’t sell him this summer. (Guardian)
Despite rumors to the contrary, it seems like Roma is still interested in Riyad Mahrez. (Football Italia)
Arsenal is being linked to Sporting midfielder William Carvalho. (Mirror)
What happened this weekend
They’ll meet the USMNT in the final after the Americans performed well in a win over Costa Rica.
What to watch on Monday (click for listings, all times ET)
Women’s Euros: Two games (2:45 p.m.) — Group A gets settled on Monday, and no one has been eliminated yet.
ICC: Two games (from 7:30 p.m.) -- You have your pick of a couple of big friendlies on Monday night.
