Sunderland have been linked with Caen striker Alexandre Mendy all summer long.
It looked as though Alexandre Mendy could’ve been the marquee striker signing for Sunderland this summer.
The Black Cats were linked with 30-year-old Caen front-man Mendy earlier in the summer, and reports even went as far as claiming that Mendy was undergoing Sunderland medical.
Those reports were shut down. Since, Sunderland and Ligue 2 Caen have been at an impasse over the transfer fee for Mendy.
Kristjaan Speakman and the Sunderland owners have been patiently waiting for the fee to drop, reportedly to round £2.5million, but now it’s claimed that the Black Cats have moved on from Mendy.
Reports on Thursday morning revealed that Mendy is set to stay with Caen ahead of deadline day on Friday, all but putting an end to his potential move to the Stadium of Light.
Here we look at the winners and losers as Mendy’s move to Sunderland falls through…
The losers as Sunderland deal for Alexandre Mendy falls through
The clear loser in all of this is Mendy himself.
The striker had his heart set on what felt like a dream move to Wearside, with Mendy outlining on multiple occasions that he wanted to leave Caen, and that he wanted to join Sunderland.
He’s now made a bit of a mess for himself at Caen. The club and his teammates know he doesn’t want to play for the club again, but it seems like Mendy now has no choice but to do so.
Sporting director Speakman may also feel a bit hard done by in all of this.
It’s clear that Speakman had done his homework on Mendy and that, at one point earlier this summer, Mendy was the no.1 target for Sunderland in the transfer market.
Whilst the arrival of Wilson Isidor on loan from Zenit softens the blow, and the possible £5million signing of Tom Cannon from Leicester City does also, Speakman may slightly rue not getting a deal for Mendy over the line.
- READ MORE: Along with Tom Cannon, Sunderland could still sign another Leicester City man before August 30th
Winners as Sunderland deal for Alexandre Mendy falls through
Isidor may be one who benefits from Mendy not arriving at Sunderland this summer.
With Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda the only two trusted striker options for Regis Le Bris right now, and with Isidor being by far the more experienced of the two, he could get a lot of game time at Sunderland this season.
And Cannon may also be a beneficiary of the Mendy deal falling through.
Sunderland appear to have turned their attentions towards the Leicester City man ahead of deadline day and with Mendy now staying at Caen, Sunderland could place all their focus on a deal for Cannon.
Cannon will surely have game-time limited at Leicester this season and so he could be keen on leaving, and possibly keen on a move to Sunderland where youngsters continue to flourish.
Lastly, Le Bris may well be glad that this Mendy saga is over.
Although Le Bris may have known about Mendy beforehand, and could well have helped identify him in the transfer market, Mendy’s actions this summer haven’t painted him in a great light.
Mendy has publicly stated his desire to leave Caen and his unhappiness at the situation, and whilst he might have a case, it certainly suggests that he may have a poor attitude.
In the long run, Le Bris may be better off not having such characters in his first-team squad.