Aye, I'm definitely reading too much into his absence. Just funny that the only player missing from the photo's is the one who's been linked with a move away.
He didn't play against Gateshead. Played against Shields and was one of the first ones off for Crompton to be fair, so might have a knock.
On Mendy, he's not with Caen at their pre season camp and multiple reports before the one linking him to us earlier state he'd be leaving imminently (I know, I know). Plus, I think Caen may be in some financial trouble after an investor pulled out earlier this year and are desperately looking for another investor, apparently Mbappe is looking at investing. Mendy could be bought on the cheap.
Funnily enough when we start to get a report on our business it's usually just before the deal gets announced
If that's true, it fits perfectly within the remit I set out earlier in the thread. It's all about return on investment and a small fee would offer value to the club.
There aren't many who go from that league for more than £4m, not at that age. If he comes here for £2/3m we may well sell one of our existing three ... ... or sell two of them and bring in another striker to play ahead of Mendy. Whatever happens I'd like Mayenda to stay.
I actually started to look this up to see what sort of fees Ligue 2 clubs can command and they can command decent fees, €13m being the highest for relegated Metz player Mikautadze, but also Amin El Ouazzani, Moussa Sylla and Zuriko Davitasvili all leaving for decent fees, all younger than Mendy admittedly but also not scoring or assisting to the same level as him. I think 4-6 is a realistic fee for a player with this profile, mitigating circumstances aside.
