The France captain became the majority shareholder of the Normandy club after acquiring 80% of the shares for a reported €15m in July, according to L’Équipe. Capton, who spoke to the French publication, retained his 20% stake in the Caen-based club. The 26-year-old completed his majority takeover through his holding company Coalition Capital – a company set up as part of Interconnected Ventures. 

The second division club have not started the new season as they would have hoped as they sit 13th in Ligue 2. However, this did not stop Mbappé celebrating their first victory of the season against Ajaccio on Instagram – a kind of exposure Caen will never have experienced before

Commenting on the impact of the France captain’s exposure, the former Caen president said, “He talks to Ziad, the new president. His Instagram post last weekend, to celebrate the first victory of the season did not go unnoticed. He knows football better than anyone, it would be a shame to deprive ourselves of his knowledge of the sector. The Mbappé brand has also completely changed the perception of Caen. It’s an opportunity.”

GFFN | Liam Wraith

The Senegalese international had been a target for French clubs this summer. His formative team SM Caen and recently promoted Angers SCO both were reportedly interested in bringing in the forward this summer. 

However, with the French transfer window shutting last Friday these two prospects would not come to pass. Instead, it appeared as if the former AC Milan and Stade Rennais forward would be staying in Italy. That was until Persepolis’ head coach Juan Carlos Garrido made Niang their priority. 

Persepolis already in negotiations with wantaway forward M’Baye Niang

The reigning champions of the Iranian top flight are in negotiations with Niang and according to Foot Mercato are considering making him a lucrative offer. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

As a result, Le Gym’s prospects of finding a replacement were limited. However, rules do stipulate that a purchase, from the domestic market, can be made under certain circumstances. Nice therefore dipped back into the market in order to find a back-up left-back. It is Melvin Bard who is the uncontested starter in that position this season. 

Tunisia international Ali Abdi (30) was quickly identified as the key target by Florian Maurice, and even before Lotomba’s departure, an agreement was met with Ligue 2 side SM Caen for his transfer. The completion of Lotomba’s move allowed Nice to then officialise Ali Abdi’s arrival on a “joker” transfer. He has been named Ligue 2’s best left-back in the past two seasons. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Nice look set to join Jordan Lotomba in the coming hours, as confirmed by Franck Haise. The Swiss international is nearing a move to Feyenoord, with the transfer window in the Netherlands not yet shut. It leaves Le Gym light on options at left-back, with little cover for Melvin Bard. Billal Brahimi, a winger by trade, does have the capacity to fill in, however, Haise made it clear that, should Lotomba leave, as looks likely, he would like a replacement. 

That replacement looks likely to be Caen’s Abdi. Rules in France that one ‘joker’ signing can be made outside the transfer window, should certain conditions be met. Losing a player on a permanent transfer outside of the transfer window certainly meets the criteria that would allow Nice to dip back into the market. 

Foot Mercato understands that Nice have almost reached an agreement with Kylian Mbappé-owned Caen. Should Lotomba complete his move, Haise should quickly have a replacement at his disposal. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Given Caen’s reluctance to sell him to Sunderland, the Guinea Bissau international resorted himself to stick around for a further season with the Ligue 2 side. Mendy is tied with the Normandy outfit over a contract set to expire in 2026. Mendy is expected to return to Nicolas Seube’s matchday squads with Caen yet to register a single point in Ligue 2 this season. Caen will host Annecy this Friday evening.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

The transfer from the outside seemed a fairly open-and-shut case. There had been a lot of interest from clubs across Europe and Saudi Arabia for Ligue 2’s top scorer, but only Sunderland had reached an agreement with the player. 

All that was left for the transfer to be finalised was an agreement between Caen and Sunderland. The problem for Sunderland was that Caen were coming under new ownership with Kylian Mbappé buying a majority share in the club. 

Mendy had been promised by the previous ownership that he would be allowed to leave. However, the new owners had agreed on no such thing and there was hope that they could convince the striker to remain at the club. 

Alexandre Mendy trains away from the first team 

Foot Mercato reports that for now, Mendy has been training separately from the rest of the club as he still hopes to be allowed to leave, while Sunderland have revised their offer to between €2-3 million to sweeten the deal for Caen. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

Over the past two years, Alexandre Mendy made a name for himself in France’s second tier, scoring consecutive 19 goals and 22 goals. If it was unsuccessful to bring back the club to Ligue 1 on both occasions, the former Bordeaux’s striker earned the award of the championship’s top scorer last season. Performances that caught the eyes of Sunderland, who are looking to strengthen their offensive unit by recruiting the experienced centre-forward. An agreement was found between all parties, with Mendy being excited to live his first experience abroad. However, in the space of a few days, Caen’s future and ambitions have been totally revamped, as Kylian Mbappé invested €20M to take the majority ownership of the Normandy club and would obviously be keen on keeping the club’s star player, who isn’t on the same page and wants his move to be completed. 

“My destination has been known since June, I’m waiting to leave.”

In an interview with Foot Mercato, Mendy opened up on his situation, and asked his club to allow him to join Sunderland: “I don’t want to force my way out of the club but, today, I’m very affected by this situation, I don’t understand, I feel wronged and betrayed,” he said. “I’ve had my mind made up since January and my destination has been known since June. I’m waiting to leave, new investors have arrived and I’m at their complete disposal. My agent is continuing to do his job, and I’m leaving him to it. In my mind, I’m no longer here because since my last match and my farewell at the Stade d’Ornano, I don’t want to cheat my partners, the club or the fans. There’s no clash, I’m just relying on the word and commitments of my managers and I have complete confidence in them. I repeat, I am at the disposal of the new management to explain my choice. It’s the reward for my hard work and investment, and I hope that everyone will respect their commitments.”

GFFN l Grégoire Devaux

CEO of Interconnected Ventures Ziad Hammoud – a former beIN Media group executive – is expected to become the new president of SM Caen with Olivier Pickeu set to leave his post. “As the main investor in this project, we are very enthusiastic about the idea of ​​continuing the development of Stade Malherbe Caen, with PAC Invest – Capton’s company”, added Hammoud. “Our shared vision with the club of sporting excellence and community engagement is at the heart of our approach. We are determined to create an environment where young talents can flourish and where the club can defend its identity with strength and ambition”.

Caen finished the previous Ligue 2 season in sixth place. The Normandy side will start the next campaign at home against Paris FC.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

Whilst the France captain has chosen to continue his playing career in Spain, Mbappé has decided to take the plunge into the boardroom and take financial control of a side that finished 6th in Ligue 2 last season. Paris Saint-Germain’s record goalscorer almost made a move to Caen in 2012, before opting to join AS Monaco’s prestigious academy. But fast forward over a decade later, and the Frenchman looks to complete a deal to take control of the club by the end of 2024.

According to Le Parisien, the former PSG man now intends to take his first steps as a club owner “with moderation”. He reportedly aims to preserve the DNA of SM Caen, proceed step by step, and avoid the excesses often associated with high-profile new owners. Given his career, Mbappé will likely be very rarely present in Normandy in the coming years.

Ziad Hammoud, former Director of Strategy and Investments at BeIN Media Group and now CEO of Kylian Mbappé’s image company, is set to become the club’s president.

GFFN | George Boxall

As reported by Foot Mercato, Mendy has chosen to join Sunderland during the summer transfer window. Seeking a new challenge abroad, the Ligue 2 top goalscorer has not travelled with Caen for their preseason training camp in Switzerland to pursue a move to the North East club. The Caen striker chose Sunderland ahead of a host of clubs including Sampdoria and Al-Riyad. 

It remains to be seen whether the desire for the Mbappé family to meet Mendy will influence his choice and prevent him from joining the Black Cats.  However, one week on from Sunderland agreeing to sign the striker, there have been no further developments in the move with the Real Madrid forward’s family intervening. 

GFFN | Liam Wraith