Lorient head coach Olivier Pantaloni has made no secret he would rather see Benjamin Mendy (30), Tiémoué Bakayoko (30), Isaak Touré (21) and Jean-Victor Makengo (26) leave the Ligue 2 side, according to a report from Ouest-France. On the back of the expiry of his Manchester City contract, Mendy signed a shock two-year contract with Les Merlus, who were still in Ligue 2 last summer. The 2018 World Cup winner with France only featured 15 times with Lorient last season, when the Brittany side fell into Ligue 2.
The outlet understands that Mendy, as well as former Chelsea midfielder Bakayoko, Touré and Makengo, haven’t played a single minute since the end of last campaign. The four players are not even reportedly in Lorient anymore. “Sportingly, they know that these are not players that I particularly want to have in the group”, Pantaloni said in this Thursday’s press conference.
The former AC Ajaccio head coach confirmed that Mendy, Bakayoko, Touré and Makengo have all been deemed surplus to requirements and pushed towards the exit. “I don’t want the balance of the group to be disturbed or even hampered by the arrival in the team of players who do not want to experience a journey with FC Lorient.”
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
