Claude Puel is looking to raid Leicester City in order to reunite with Nampalys Mendy at St Etienne but, according to Le10 Sport, the midfielder would need to take a substantial pay cut if he wants to join the Ligue 1 outfit.
A deep-lying enforcer who joined the Foxes in a £10 million deal four years ago, the ex-Nice man has never really looked like the N’Golo Kante replacement he was supposed to become at the King Power Stadium.
While Brendan Rodgers and Claudio Ranieri struggled to get a tune out of Mendy, who has slipped behind Wilfred Ndidi and Hamza Choudhury in the pecking order, he produced arguably his finest performances in Leicester blue during the ill-fated Puel era.
“I was surprised to see him again at this level, fantastic ability to recover the ball and hard work around the pitch with the quality with the ball and good control, passing between the lines,” the softly-spoken Frenchman told the Mercury of Mendy in September 2018.
“I think he has improved a lot and I am happy with Papy. That’s a good word, happy with Papy.”
Puel would certainly be ‘happy’ if Papy decided to join him at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard.
Le10 Sport claims that the St Etienne boss is hoping to hand Mendy a route back into Ligue 1 when his contract expires in July. But it remains to be seen if the 26-year-old is willing to take a major reduction on his current £50,000-a-week wages in order to link up with Puel again across the Channel.
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