Former Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has launched a “multi-million-pound” claim against the club over unpaid wages.

Mendy is reportedly suing Manchester City for £10 million in unpaid wages after they stopped paying the Frenchman during his trial for sex offences. Under his bail conditions, Mendy could not enter the county of Greater Manchester, where City’s training ground lies.

Earlier this month it was revealed that Mendy slashed a mega £750,000 off the £5 million asking price for his Cheshire mansion in a bid to beat bankruptcy. The 29-year-old has cited “unauthorised deductions from wages” after he was charged with rape and sexual assault in 2021.

Mendy was cleared of rape and attempted rape at a retrial last summer but Manchester City had stopped paying his £100,000-a-week wages in September 2021. In the aftermath of the acquittal, the defender’s agent discussed back-pay with City following his retrial but the club had no intention of settling with the left back, whose last game for them came a fortnight before he was charged by Cheshire Police.

The World Cup winner, who admitted to disrespecting women during the trial, signed for Lorient on a free transfer after his City contract expired in June.

A statement from Nick De Marco KC, who is acting on behalf of Mendy, read: “Manchester City FC failed to pay Mr Mendy any wages at all from September 2021, following Mr Mendy being charged with various offences all of which he was subsequently acquitted of, until the end of his contract in June 2023.”

Mendy was found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in January, but the same jury could not reach a verdict on another count of rape and one count of attempted rape.

It saw a retrial and, in July, Mendy was found not guilty of one charge of rape and one charge of attempted rape. In August, the High Court heard Mendy was selling his house in a bid to avoid bankruptcy.

The Frenchman’s contract with Man City expired in June 2023, but they stopped paying him in September 2021 as he was facing trial for a string of sex offences, which he denied

HMRC has been seeking a bankruptcy order against Mendy over a £788,000 tax debt, with those proceedings having been postponed during the trial.  His legal bill for the trial is estimated at over £1 million and he has been attempting to sell his £5 million house in Prestbury. City declined to comment.

HM Revenue and Customs is seeking a bankruptcy order against the French left-back over a tax debt of nearly £800,000, a specialist judge was told. In a statement, Nick De Marco KC confirmed he is acting for Mendy, who now plays for French club Lorient.

It read, “Nick De Marco KC (instructed by Laffer Abogados (Madrid) is acting for the former Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy in a multi-million-pound claim for unauthorised deductions from wages.

“Manchester City FC failed to pay Mr Mendy any wages at all from September 2021, following Mr Mendy being charged with various offences all of which he was subsequently acquitted of, until the end of his contract in June 2023. The claim will come before an Employment Tribunal.”

City have declined to comment on the matter but are understood to be bemused by the claim given that the player was unavailable to work throughout the stated period. Pep Guardiola’s men are back in Premier League action on Saturday lunchtime when Liverpool head to the Etihad Stadium in a top-of-the-table clash.

It was reported in August that Mendy had put the swanky mansion up for £5 million following his move to Ligue 1 side Lorient, where he is looking to rebuild his career after two criminal trials. But now the defender is desperate to sell up, and has reduced the asking price to £4.25 million, reports say.

It comes months after the High Court heard that Mendy was selling his house and was chasing millions of pounds in back pay from City to avoid bankruptcy. Two offers had been made on the property but the asking price has since been reduced.

Addressing Mendy’s debt, with a bankruptcy order of almost £800,000, Mr Doyle said: “He is embarrassed about the fact that he is not able to discharge it quicker than he is able to. He is saying ‘I want to pay as quickly as I can, I realise that I am in difficulty’.”

• A Tell report / addition reporting by TalkSport and Daily Mail