Benjamin Mendy slashes a whopping £750,000 off his £5m Cheshire mansion asking price in a bid to avoid bankruptcy after being cleared of rape – with the ex-Man City man desperate to sell up

• Benjamin Mendy has slashed the asking price of his £5m Cheshire mansion
• Ex-Man City defender is looking to sell the property in a bid to avoid bankruptcy
• Can Liverpool challenge for the title? Listen to the debate on It’s All Kicking Off!

Benjamin Mendy has slashed a mega £750,000 off the £5million asking price for his Cheshire mansion in a bid to beat bankruptcy.

The former Man City defender must sell his exclusive property to avoid bankruptcy after being cleared of raping and sexually assaulting women during parties at the address.

The MailOnline reported in August that Mendy had put the swanky mansion up for £5m following his move to Ligue 1 side Lorient, where he is looking to rebuild his career after two criminal trials.

But now the 29-year-old is desperate to sell up, and has reduced the asking price to £4.25m according to The Sun.

It comes months after the High Court heard that Mendy was selling his house and was chasing millions of pounds in back pay from City to avoid bankruptcy. Two offers had been made on the property but the asking price has since been reduced.

Benjamin Mendy has slashed £750,000 off the asking price of his £5million Cheshire mansion

Mendy’s (pictured) exclusive Cheshire mansion went on the market for £5m earlier this year with the former Man City defender looking to sell the property to avoid financial ruin

The ‘amazing 11,000sq-ft residence’ is set in over 1.75 acres of grounds in Cheshire

His former home in the village of Mottram St Andrew features a swimming pool and gym

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HM Revenue and Customs is seeking a bankruptcy order against the France international over a tax debt of nearly £800,000, a specialist judge was told.

The hearing was adjourned to October to allow Mendy time to sell the house but it seems the left back has struggled to find the home a new owner. 

His prestigious former home in the village of Mottram St Andrew is described by estate agents Savills as ‘one of the finest contemporary homes in Cheshire’.

The ‘amazing 11,000sq-ft residence’ is set in over 1.75 acres of grounds and boasts six bedroom suites, an open plan living area, games room, home cinema, swimming pool, steam room, gym and spa.

Estate agents Savills, which are marketing the property, said: ‘This impressive home was built about 15 years ago and has been upgraded twice in intervening years.’ 

Among the highlights are ‘an enormous principal bedroom suite with a vaulted bedroom area, a fitted dressing room and a large en-suite bathroom.’

The garden includes a ‘sports pitch, basketball area, extensive terraces and an outside kitchen/entertaining area’.

The property was bought by Mendy from cricketing legend Andrew Flintoff in 2018 for £4.8m

The mansion has six bedroom suites, an open plan living area and boasts a luxury interior

The swanky property also has a games room, home cinema, steam room, gym and spa

Other selling points for potential buyers are proximity to leading private schools, ‘good restaurants and bistros’ in nearby Prestbury, and ‘lovely walks in the surrounding countryside’.

The property was bought by Mendy from cricketing legend Andrew Flintoff in 2018 for £4.8m.

Flintoff, who never lived at the house, bought it for £1.8million in 2008 and spent two years rebuilding the property – before renting it out.

His tenants included former footballer Peter Crouch and wife Abbey Clancy.

Flintoff bought the property from former Man City boss Mark Hughes, who most recently managed Bradford City. Hughes had already secured planning permission to completely rebuild the property.

The house is in one of the most exclusive roads in Cheshire’s so-called ‘golden triangle’, made up of villages between Prestbury, Alderley Edge and Wilmslow.

Neighbours on the lane have included former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney, before he and his family moved to a newly-built £20m mansion nearby.

Mendy was cleared of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in January after a trial at Chester Crown Court.

He was then cleared of one more count of rape and attempted rape in July after a retrial at the same court.

Benjamin Mendy has made his return to football as a substitute for Lorient against Monaco

Potential selling points for buyers are proximity to leading private schools, ‘good restaurants and bistros’ in nearby Prestbury, and ‘lovely walks in the surrounding countryside’

The trial heard Mendy, who joined City in 2017, had a hard-partying lifestyle, clubbing two or three times a week as well as inviting numerous young women to his home and frequently having sex with more than one on the same night.

His lifestyle was an open secret among colleagues.

Some of the parties which led to the offences Mendy was charged with even took place while he was being treated for a knee injury between October and November 2020 and in breach of Covid rules which were then in place.

Giving evidence in court, Mendy – who spent time in prison on remand after being charged – said: ‘I was enjoying the house, I was enjoying the women.

‘I was so happy to be here, so excited. At the time, I was not thinking about what was bad – the parties, the Covid rules – I was on the train going fast and kept going until I went to prison. That was the first time I was really alone and had time to think about everything.’

Manchester City suspended Mendy following his arrest in August 2021 and stopped paying him the following month. He was released by the club when his contract expired in June this year.

In relation to the £800,000 tax debt, a court heard last month that Mendy is ’embarrassed’ about it which he wants to pay ‘as quickly as possible’.

It even includes its own football pitch, with a woodland area to the rear of the garden

Louis Doyle KC, representing Mendy, successfully asked for an adjournment for the sportsman to settle the sum.

The court heard that Mendy remains in negotiations with his former club over his backdated salary, after City stopped paying him when he was charged with rape in 2021.

READ MORE: Emotional Benjamin Mendy says ‘Praise be to God’ as ex-Manchester City star is CLEARED of raping a woman at his £4M mansion and trying to rape another

Mr Doyle said discussions with the club were ongoing and ‘one senses that there is going to be a positive end to the dispute’. 

Mendy’s accountant, David Lumley, previously described the back pay as ‘in the order of nine to 10 million pounds gross’.

Addressing the debt, Mr Doyle said: ‘He is embarrassed about the fact that he is not able to discharge it quicker than he is able to.

‘He is saying “I want to pay as quickly as I can, I realise that I am in difficulty”.’

The barrister added: ‘This is perhaps, if not the last chance saloon, it is close to last orders at the last chance saloon.’

The court was told that £277,000 had been paid to HMRC, though the department’s lawyer Megan Vanderhook said it had not yet been received.

Mr Doyle later told the court that Mendy was prepared to pay £20,000 a month to HMRC from his salary from his new employer – French club Lorient.

Judge Mark Mullen adjourned the hearing for four months, describing the delay as ‘final’.

‘It is clear the debtor is a man of substantial means and the question is really one of realising his assets and particularly resolving a dispute with his former employer,’ he said.

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