You can never have enough young left backs according to Arsenal, as they attempt to sign Benjamin Mendy of Le Havre for the second time in his young career.
The 18 year old left back has been with the French Ligue 2 side since 2007, but before he signed his first professional contract in 2011, Arsenal made an attempt to sign him. Mendy instead chose to stay in France, signing on a three year deal that expires in 12 months.
Wenger hasn’t lost interest in the player who is currently part of the French U-19 setup, and played in 28 league matches for his club this past season.
According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal have already made a bid worth £2.5 million for the player, but Le Havre are holding out for a bigger offer, despite the relatively short time they have left to keep the player, and the growing interest from a number of clubs around Europe.
Le Havre want £5 million for Mendy, hoping that the added interest from Juventus, Sunderland, Cardiff and Lyon will create some sort of bidding war for the talented defender, and pushing the price upwards.
Mendy isn’t the only young French left back getting plenty of attention this summer, as Lucas Digne of Lille has gotten plenty of attention from Premier League clubs including Liverpool and Arsenal. He’s only 19, but playing for a bigger club and being considered a better attacker than Mendy has caused his price and value to skyrocket, with Lille looking for offers shy of €10 million to acquire the player.