Manchester City free to sign Benjamin Mendy in £40m deal after Monaco snap up replacement left-back

MONACO have paved the way for Benjamin Mendy to join Manchester City - by signing a ready made replacement.

The France international defender is Pep Guardiola's top choice for a new left-back and is valued at £40million by his club.

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And today Monaco completed the signing of Feyenoord defender Terence Kongolo in a £13.1m deal.

That will be good news for City who know that Mendy has made it clear to the French champions he wants to move to the Etihad.

Mendy would become the second player this summer to swap the French club for Guardiola's City after Bernardo Silva's £43.6m move in May.

Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim's side dethroned Paris Saint-Germain of the Ligue 1 title last season, and progressed to the Champions League semi-finals where they were knocked out by Juventus.

The likes of Mendy, Kylian Mbappe, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Fabinho and Thomas Lemar have all attracted attention from Europe's top clubs.

Jardim yesterday admitted he was powerless to stop his star players from leaving.

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He said: "It is not just me, all the coaches of the world [would] like to keep the best players.

"But with the Monaco project, maybe it's not possible to always keep the best. We're going to look at what's going to happen.

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"Three players left. Other players could leave us. Everyone knows our project. It did not change even if we have won the title. The project is the same. The goal is still win. Nothing changed.

"It's very important for us. What matters is the training of the young players and the quality of our game. The only thing that changes is that we are going to start the season being the defending champion."

Meanwhile City are hoping they will avoid a transfer ban after a one day Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing in Lausanne today.

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The Premier League club sent lawyer Simon Cliffe to make their case - after a complaint from Velez Sarsfield over the signing of youngster Benjamin Garre.

It could be several weeks before City discover if they will be banned from signing players - and it will not affect the current window.