It’s been a long, hard road to proving his innocence for Benjamin Mendy, but after a jury found him not guilty of rape and attempted rape, he was released as a free man on Friday afternoon.
The Daily Mail were just one of many outlets to report the news, bringing an end to the saga which began back in 2020.
The retrial had been necessary as although a previous jury had found him not guilty of six other rapes that he was accused of, they were unable to make a decision on the two other cases.
Friday’s acquittal means that the defender can get on with his life again, however, he’s now without a club as his Man City contract ran out at the end of June.
Given that he’s believed to have only played one competitive game of football in the past two years, it’s going to take some while to get back to anywhere approaching match fitness, however, it will be interesting to see which clubs are willing to offer the 28-year-old a contract.
Still, theoretically, in his prime as a player, it shouldn’t be forgotten that when he signed for City in 2017 for a fee reported to be £52m (per BBC Sport), it was a record for a defender.
Football supporters are likely to have a lot to say about the Frenchman and whichever team takes a chance on him will have to factor the abuse and pressure into the decision, though he can now hold his head high and put the past couple of years behind him.