Lyon replace Tottenham recruit Ndombele with Lille´s Mendes

Lyon have announced the signing of Lille midfielder Thiago Mendes, who will help fill the void left by the departure of Tanguy Ndombele.

Mendes joins fellow Brazilian Jean Lucas at the club after Ndombele became Tottenham’s record signing on Tuesday, joining the Premier League team for a fee that could rise to €70million (£62.8m).

Lyon and Lille have not revealed the terms of Mendes’ transfer, though he is reported to have cost around €25m.

Mendes made 35 Ligue 1 appearances in the 2018-19 season as Lille finished second behind Paris Saint-Germain in the table, a place ahead of Lyon.

Thiago Mendes s’engage avec l’Olympique Lyonnais !
Bem-vindo pic.twitter.com/Der5tZBnwU

— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) July 3, 2019

He becomes Lyon’s third signing ahead of the 2019-20 campaign, following on from the arrivals of Jean Lucas and Romania goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu.

However, Lyon have lost Ndombele to Spurs and also left-back Ferland Mendy to Real Madrid, while Nabil Fekir continues to be linked with an exit.

Lyon, under Bruno Genesio’s successor as head coach Sylvinho, open the new season away to Monaco next month before hosting Angers in their first home game.

0/10 – Since Thiago Mendes’ first game in Ligue 1 in 2017/18, Lille never won a game in the top-flight without the Brazilian midfielder (0/10, D4 L6). Loss. pic.twitter.com/iJS1N0Zr2T

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) July 3, 2019