PSG set to begin negotiations with Sporting Lisbon to sign Nuno Mendes on a permanent deal

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Paris Saint-Germain reportedly will attempt to sign Nuno Mendes on a permanent deal from Sporting Lisbon this summer.

The Portuguese defender has impressed the club and fans since joining in the summer and is set to cost the Parisians £40 million.

At the beginning of the season, it was clear that the left-back position was an issue for PSG. Layvin Kurzawa was struggling to perform well while dealing with injuries and Juan Bernat missed the opening games with a ruptured cruciate ligament, meaning centre-back Abdou Diallo was filling in at full-back.

Mendes was signed on Deadline Day and got off to a relatively normal start at the club but soon cemented his place in the side. He started in his second appearance for Mauricio Pochettino’s side but was often rested in league games and played more minutes in the Champions League.

The 19-year-old has been preferred to Bernat in the more important Champions League games, starting in six of PSG’s seven games in Europe, due to both attacking and defensive prowess.

Mendes ranked in the 96th percentile for blocks, 89th percentile for pass completion and 80th percentile for dribbles completed when compared to full-backs in Europe’s top five leagues this season.

When compared to Bernat, Mendes has won the same amount of tackles this season but does it more frequently in the defensive third. He is more successful when pressuring opponents in all three-thirds of the pitch but has a slightly lower success rate when tackling players who are dribbling.

One of Mendes’ best performances this season came in PSG’s most recent Champions League fixture as they beat Real Madrid 1-0 thanks to Kylian Mbappe’s last-minute winner. Both Mendes and Mbappe started the game on the left side for the French giants and caused havoc to Madrid’s defence.

Defensively, Mendes accumulated five tackles, won nine of his 12 duels and cleared the ball once. He was only dribbled past twice despite facing the likes of Rodrygo and Gareth Bale, and most importantly, helped keep a clean sheet.

Although Mbappe’s attacking output was on a world-class level, Mendes also contributed to the forward-thinking of Pochettino’s team. He was successful in 100% of his dribble attempts, completed 86% of his passes and drew two fouls when advancing forward.

It is clear that Mendes is very comfortable moving up the pitch as his dribbling, passing, and more specifically, crossing ability is at a high level for someone of his age. Although he is still a few steps behind the best left-backs in the world, his statistics show that he is on the right path.

He creates 2.83 shot-creating actions per game compared to the 3.06 of Alphonso Davies and the 3.75 of Andrew Robertson. Mendes has fewer assists than the two other left-backs, although he has played fewer minutes, and the Portuguese international also has a lower percentage of shots that hit the target compared to the Bayern Munich and Liverpool defenders.

If the signing does become permanent, which seems very likely, Mendes is set to be an important part of PSG’s short-term and long-term ambitions.

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