Benjamin Mendy signs for Ligue 1 side Lorient after being cleared of rape

World Cup winner Benjamin Mendy signed a two-year deal with French football club Lorient on Wednesday, only days after the France international was found not guilty of raping a woman and the attempted rape of another. The 29-year-old Mendy left Manchester City last month after his contract expired. He had not played for the Champions League winners since 2021. “After passing the traditional medical, Benjamin Mendy, a 2018 world champion, four-time Premier League winner with Manchester City and Ligue 1 French champion with Monaco among others, has strengthened Lorient’s squad for the new season,” Lorient said in a statement. The France left back was cleared at a retrial of attempting to rape a woman — who was 29 at the time — at his home in October 2018. He was also found not guilty of the rape of a second woman two years later also at his home address. Mendy denied the charges and said the incidents were consensual encounters. Earlier this year, Mendy was cleared by a jury of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault relating to four young women or teenagers following a six-month trial. Jurors failed to reach verdicts on counts of rape and attempted rape, leading to the retrial.