How is Sunderland AFC summer target Alexandre Mendy getting on after Black Cats transfer miss? | OneFootball

FLW looks at Mendy's start to the season after Sunderland missed out on acquiring the SM Caen striker

Sunderland have started the season remarkably well under the management of new boss Regis Le Bris.

The former FC Lorient head coach, who was appointed on Wearside in in late June, has took to English football like a duck to water in the Black Cats' first nine Championship games, which includes the strongest home record in the league to date.

Despite losing the talismanic Jack Clarke to Ipswich Town in the summer, Le Bris has made 10 new signings since coming into the club, with a number of those possessing Championship experience, such as Chris Mepham, Alan Browne, Simon Moore and Aaron Connolly.

The acquisition of Wilson Isidor among others also further addressed main issue which Sunderland faced last season, which was a distinct lack of strength-in-depth and quality in the centre-forward department.

However, it would be fair to say that the Black Cats' attempt to sign SM Caen's Alexandre Mendy was a key talking point for the North East outfit over the summer transfer window.

With that in mind, FLW looks at Mendy's start to the season after the second tier side's transfer miss.

Sunderland missed out on acquiring Alexandre Mendy

It had been made no secret over the summer that Sunderland's wish to sign the 30-year-old was as great as Mendy's desire to join the Wearside outfit, after initially seeing a bid of less than €1m initially turned down, before the club decided to pull the plug on their interest in late August, despite Mendy remaining eager to make the move and an even greater bid of €2-3m.

He admitted to fully preparing ahead of a move to the Stadium of Light, before revealing that the summer saga still somewhat affected him, in an interview with France Bleu last month.

"No, I’ve not recovered 100 percent, there are still a few after-effects," Mendy said.

"The after-effects of what was said, what happened in the past and also everything to do with my family: having packed my bags, having thought about going elsewhere, all those things.

"That will go away with time, but today I feel good on the pitch."

Alexandre Mendy's start to the 2024/25 campaign with Caen

In fairness to Mendy, that's exactly what has transpired once again in Ligue 2 with Caen at the beginning of this season.

After netting 22 goals in 36 games for the Normandy-based outfit last campaign, despite the club finishing in sixth place in France's second tier, the experienced striker has started the campaign in relatively good individual form, albeit his club currently find themselves in 14th position after the first eight games.

Mendy has made six league appearances so far this season - five of which have been starts - and found the net on four occasions, despite only seeing the ball 27 times per game on average.

The seven-time international's strongest performance of the campaign came in a 2-1 win over Amiens at the Stade Michel d'Ornano on September 24, with the striker netting a brace, as well as being at the forefront of the action.

Sunderland have managed just fine without Alexandre Mendy's services

Whilst there was a tinge of disappointment that the club couldn't land a well-desired target, the truth of the matter is that Le Bris' side have performed just as well without his services.

As previously mentioned, Sunderland lead the way in the Championship after nine games, and are the only side to have averaged two goals in the division, which is a real credit to their dynamic attack which includes the likes of Isidor, Chris Rigg and Eliezer Mayenda among others.

Of course, such a tally might have even grown stronger if Mendy was a Sunderland player at present, and it remains to be seen whether interest in the striker rekindles in January, as it has been revealed that the club will back Le Bris in the upcoming transfer window.