Sunderland handed ‘surprise’ update on striker target Alexandre Mendy at Caen
Sunderland and Kristjaan Speakman have a lot of spinning plates right now.
Sunderland suffered their first defeat of the Regis Le Bris era on Tuesday night, losing 2-0 vs Preston North End in the Carabao Cup.
It comes after a 2-0 win vs Cardiff City on the opening day of the season, and whilst focus has quickly shifted towards matches, at least for Le Bris, sporting direct Kristjaan Speakman will remain focused on transfers.
And there could be some comings and goings at the Stadium of Light before the August 30th transfer deadline.
Midfielder Pierre Ekwah is a target for Leicester City, whilst the likes of Jack Clarke and Jobe Bellingham among others have persistent links to the Premier League.
In terms of potential signings, Sunderland remain keen on signing a striker, with Caen’s Alexandre Mendy appearing to be a key summer target.
Mendy is keen to leave Caen this summer and equally keen to join Sunderland, though the Black Cats are yet to table a sufficient bid, with reports that Sunderland tabled a ‘ridiculous’ bid for Mendy.
- READ MORE: Preston defeat has exposed a ‘big problem’ for Regis Le Bris at Sunderland
Sunderland target Alexandre Mendy returns to training with Caen
Mendy was in limbo at Caen, and he may still be. But the 30-year-old has since been pictured in first-team training with Caen ahead of their 2024/25 Ligue 2 campaign.
Caen get underway at home to Paris FC this weekend, though whether or not Mendy features remains to be seen.
French outlet franceinfo has shared images of Mendy training with Caen, in what they described as a ‘surprise in Caen’.
The same report adds that Mendy has trained alone for the last month, ‘waiting for a planned transfer which no longer seems to be on the horizon’.
Francinfo also fail to rule out the possibility of Mendy featuring against Paris FC this weekend.
READ MORE: Sunderland backed for ‘breakthrough’ in pursuit of European striker target
Sunderland pursuit of Alexandre Mendy will go down to the wire
It seems clear that the difficulties in this transfer saga are between Sunderland and Caen, and their valuations of Mendy.
Now with Mendy back in training after clearly outlining his desire to leave and never play for the club again, it suggests that Mendy has accepted the fact that he might not leave the club this summer.
But if he can play some games before the transfer deadline, and score some goals, he could tempt Sunderland or indeed any other club into paying whatever fee Caen want for the striker.
Whilst Mendy’s Caen exit is up in the air, it’s not completely off the table.
