Derby County winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing arrested in Majorca for ‘punching woman in face and taking her phone’
FORMER England Under-16 winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has been arrested after a woman complained she had been assaulted in a Magaluf nightclub and had her mobile phone stolen.
The Derby County winger reportedly appeared in court on Sunday following the early-hours incident a day earlier.
Respected Majorcan newspaper Ultima Hora is reporting the 32-year-old, who was born in Birmingham but plays for the Guatemala national team, allegedly punched the woman in the face before taking her phone.
His wife, accused of pulling the unnamed woman’s hair, is also said to have been held after police were given the mobile’s geolocator by the “assault victim” and went to their holiday accommodation.
The couple were released pending an ongoing criminal investigation after paying €300 bail according to Ultima Hora.
The mystery woman at the centre of the bizarre incident, described locally as a Brit, is said to have annoyed the footballer and his wife by taking pictures and video of them without their consent inside the unnamed nightspot.
There has not yet been any official comment from the Civil Guard.
It is not clear if Nathaniel, who served a three-month ban after failing a drug test for cocaine in July 2020 when he was still at Cardiff City, remains in Majorca.
Mendez-Laing helped Cardiff win promotion to the Premier League in his first season with the club.
But he had his deal terminated for breach of contract in September 2020.
He admitted to taking cocaine the night before a match against Bristol City.
The footballer had already served a ban for taking cocaine in 2019.
After leaving Cardiff he went on to play for Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday.
He signed for Derby County in July 2022 and helped them to win promotion to the EFL Championship in his second season with the team.
He represented England at under-16 and under-17 but started playing for Guatemala at international level last year.
Both his mum and maternal grandmother were born in the Central American country.
The footballer has not yet commented on his social media about the Magaluf incident.
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