Nampalys Mendy

Nampalys Mendy

Personal information
Full name	Nampalys Mendy
Date of birth	(1992-06-23) 23 June 1992
Place of birth	La Seyne-sur-Mer, France
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Monaco
Number	24
Youth career
1998–1999	La Beaucaire Toulon
1999–2001	Toulon Le Las
2001–2005	RCF Toulon
2005–2007	Toulon
2007–2010	Monaco
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–	Monaco	26	(0)
International career‡
2009	France U17	3	(0)
2009	France U18	3	(0)
2010–2011	France U19	8	(0)
2011–	France U20	2	(0)
2010–	France U21	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 October 2011 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 November 2011

Nampalys Mendy (born 23 June 1992 in La Seyne-sur-Mer) is a French football player who currently plays for Monégasque club Monaco in Ligue 1. He plays as a defensive midfielder and, due to his small stature, simple distribution, and reliable style of play, has been compared to former French international Claude Makélélé whom Monaco club scout Didier Christophe referred to Mendy as a "carbon copy" of. Mendy is a French youth international having earned caps at under-17, under-18 level, and under-19 level. He played with the under-17 team at the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship.

Career

Early career

Mendy was born in the commune of La Seyne-sur-Mer in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region to Senegalese parents. He began his career playing for a host of amateur clubs in the city of Toulon. Mendy joined his first club, La Beaucaire Toulon, in October 1998 and spent exactly one year at the club before departing for Toulon-Le Las the following October. After two years at Toulon-Le Las, Mendy signed with RFC Toulon. He spent four years at the club before moving to the biggest club in the city, Sporting Toulon, in July 2005.

After leaving Sporting in June 2007, Mendy went on trial with the football section of RC Toulon. According to Monaco scout Didier Christophe, he was told by the club coaches that Mendy was there to "make up the numbers". However, while training, Christophe noticed the player's intelligence and understanding of the game and recommended him to Dominique Bijotat, who was serving as head of the Monaco youth academy on the basis of Mendy having significant potential. In July 2007, Mendy signed with Monaco on an aspirant (youth) contract.

Monaco

Upon his arrival at Monaco, Mendy was inserted onto the club's under-16 team and played in the Championnat National des 16 ans for the 2007–08 season. For the 2008–09 season, he spent the majority of campaign with the club's under-18 team, but did make three appearances with the club's reserve team in the Championnat de France amateur. In the 2009–10 season, Mendy was promoted to the club's reserve team full-time, who were now playing in the Championnat de France amateur 2 after suffering relegation the previous season. Mendy appeared regularly in the campaign as Monaco finished in first place in its group and was, subsequently, promoted back to the fourth division.

On 27 April 2010, Mendy signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with Monaco until June 2013. In July 2010, he was called up to the first team by manager Guy Lacombe for pre-season training, again to make up the numbers with Lacombe missing several players such as Diego Pérez, Nicolas N'Koulou, Park Chu-Young, and Lukman Haruna, who had all participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Mendy quickly impressed during the camp and, also, performed well in the pre-season friendly matches. As a result, he was promoted to the senior team for the 2010–11 season and assigned the number 24 shirt by Lacombe.

On 7 August 2010, Mendy made his professional debut in the club's opening league match against Lyon. He started the match and played the entire 90 minutes receiving a yellow card in the second half. Mendy was praised by coaches and the media for his performance and was, subsequently, included, as a starter, by Lacombe in five of the team's next six matches.

International

Mendy is a French youth international having earned caps at under-17, under-18 level, and under-19 level. With the under-17 team, he went unnoticed by coach Philippe Bergeroo until the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship when he was finally called up to the team. Mendy appeared in all three group stage matches as France were eliminated without procuring a victory. With the under-18 team, he made his debut on 29 October 2009 in a friendly match against the Denmark. Mendy only appeared in two more matches for the team in 2009 before turning down call ups for friendly matches against Germany and the Taça do Atlântico in 2010.

Mendy was initially called up to the under-19 team in August 2010 to play in the Sendai Cup in Japan, however, due to his consistent performances domestically, Monaco coach Guy Lacombe convince Bergeroo to change his stance. He was officially called up to the under-19 team for qualification matches for the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. Mendy made his debut with the team in a 3–0 victory over San Marino and, subsequently, appeared as a starter in the next two qualification matches against Montenegro and Austria with France winning both matches to finish the round undefeated.

On 9 November 2010, Mendy, despite still being eligible to represent the under-19 and under-20 teams, was called up to the under-21 team for a friendly match against Russia.

Career statistics

Club

(Correct as of 31 October 2011)

Club	Season	League			Cup			Europe			Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Monaco	2010–11	14	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	15	0	0
	2011–12	12	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	13	0	0
	Total	26	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	28	0	0
Career total		26	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	28	0	0

External links

• Club profile
• Nampalys Mendy – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
• Nampalys Mendy at L'Équipe Football (in French)

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