Left-back Nuno Mendes, who left Sporting for Paris Saint-Germain last season, is one of ten candidates for the Kopa Trophy, France Football’s award for best footballer of the year under 21 years of age.
Nuno Mendes, 19, was one of the key players in the title won by the lions in 2020/21, playing 29 league games, all as a starter, in which he scored a goal, in the third round, in Portimonense’s stronghold (2- 0).
On the last day of the summer market closing on August 31, Nuno Mendes – who made his AA international debut on March 24 in a 1-0 victory over Azerbaijan in Turin – headed for Paris Saint-Germain.
The French paid €7m in loan fee a year – during which they ceded Spanish international Pablo Sarabia to Sporting – and were given a buy-in at the end of the 2021/22 season for €40m.
In the Gallic team, Nuno Mendes, teammate of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, has played six games, four in ‘Ligue 1’ and two in the Champions League, having started in the recent triumph against Manchester City (2- 0).
The Portuguese international left-back competes for the prize with Jude Bellingham and Giovanni Reina (Borussia Dortmund), Jérémy Doku (Rennes), Ryan Gravenberch (Ajax), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Pedri (FC Barcelona) ), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) and Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen).
In the first two editions, Mbappé was the winner in 2018 and the Dutch center Matthijs de Ligt in 2019, with the Portuguese João Félix in third. In 2020, France Football decided not to award its annual prizes due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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