Who is Paul Mendy, the surprising Cagliari bomber paid 15 thousand euros

Cagliari has discovered Paul Mendy. In his first start in Serie A, the very young 2007-born Senegalese striker scored a flash double against Atalanta, two goals in eight minutes, one from a header after just 16 seconds and one from an opportunist. Until then he had played only 80 minutes total in the previous four games, against Napoli, Sassuolo, Cremonese and Inter.

The 19-year-old is a left-handed striker who arrived in Italy from Senegal in January 2025, purchased from ASC Bambey for a fee of 15 thousand euros. He was discovered by former Rossoblù striker Roberto Muzzi, current youth technical coordinator, who had observed him and reported him to the club.

Mendy has played mostly with Cagliari Primavera in the last year and a half (13 goals in 25 games) and impressed Pisacane, who decided to give him a chance in these last league games. He made his debut against Napoli on March 20, then got minutes with Sassuolo, Cremonese and Inter Milan, until his explosion at home with Atalanta.

Rapid and physically strong, a natural left-hander, Mendy recently signed a contract until 2031: a far-sighted move by Cagliari, which could yield a resounding capital gain in the future.

The Senegalese youngster’s brace steered an emotionally charged match that ended 3-2 in favor of the Sardinians. After the lightning lead signed Mendy, Atalanta reacted in the end of the first half with a double by Scamacca – first a right-footed shot on an assist from De Ketelaere at 41′, then the 2-2 in the dying minutes on an assist from Scalvini – bringing the result back to a draw. In the second half, however, Cagliari again found the winning breakthrough: at 47′ Borrelli scored the 3-2 by taking advantage of a nice restart triggered by Folorunsho, with the Bergamo defense still unprepared. In the final, Caprile made three decisive saves on Krstovic, Scamacca and Raspadori, securing the result.