Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against four young women.
Benjamin Mendy playing for Manchester City 2021. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The jury failed to reach verdicts on one count of rape and one of attempted rape and a retrial will take place.
Louis Saha Matturie, 41, was also found not guilty of three counts of rape against two teenagers.
Jurors at Chester Crown Court could not reach verdicts on six other counts by five other women.
Mr Mendy, 28, and his friend Mr Matturie, had been accused of raping women at the player's home in Prestbury, Cheshire, and at a Manchester flat.
Mr Mendy covered his face with both hands as the jury foreman repeated "not guilty" to the six counts.
During a six-month trial, prosecutors told the jury Mr Mendy was a "predator" who turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game.
But jurors were also told by defence lawyers that while the trial, involving money, sex and celebrity, had "all the makings of a good drama", it came with a significant "plot twist" - that the accused were innocent.
Lawyers for both men argued each allegation was "riddled with inconsistencies and flaws".
Mendy last played for City against Tottenham Hotspur in August, 2021 and was suspended by the Premier League club later that month when he was arrested.
The France international signed for City from Ligue 1 side AS Monaco in 2017 for a fee in the region of $100 million.
-BBC
