- The 32-year-old man allegedly punched a woman at a nightclub on Saturday.
Former England Under-16 winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has been arrested after a woman reported she had been assaulted in a Magaluf nightclub and had her mobile phone stolen.
The Derby County winger was taken to court on Sunday following the incident early the previous day.
Respected Mallorcan newspaper Ultima Hora reports that 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, who is accused of pulling the unnamed woman’s hair, is also said to have been arrested after the “victim of the assault” handed over the phone’s geolocation tag to police and went to their holiday accommodation.
The couple were released pending an ongoing criminal investigation after paying €300 bail, according to Ultima Hora.
Former England Under-16 winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has been arrested after a woman reported being assaulted in a Magaluf nightclub
Derby County’s Nathaniel Mendez-Laing celebrates scoring his side’s opening goal with team-mates during the Sky Bet League One match at the Cledara Abbey Stadium, Cambridge. Photo date: Saturday April 20, 2024
Méndez-Laing was arrested on Sunday in Magaluf. Tourists on a terrace in the tourist resort of Magaluf, on the Balearic island of Mallorca, Spain
The mystery woman at the centre of the bizarre incident, described locally as British, is said to have disturbed the footballer and his wife by taking photographs and videos of them without their consent inside the unidentified nightspot.
There has been no official comment from the Civil Guard yet.
It is unclear whether Nathaniel, who served a three-month ban after failing a drugs test for cocaine in July 2020 while still at Cardiff City, remains at Mallorca.
Méndez-Laing helped Cardiff win promotion to the Premier League in his first season with the club, but his contract was terminated for breach of contract in September 2020, a month after he was suspended by the FA.
He admitted to taking cocaine the night before a match against Bristol City.
The FA later revealed that Mendez-Laing had served a three-month ban after failing a drugs test for taking cocaine “in a context unrelated to sporting performance”.
A statement at the time read: ‘Cocaine is classified as a prohibited substance in competition by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), therefore Nathaniel Mendez-Laing was charged by the FA for breaching its anti-doping regulations and provisionally suspended on 14 August 2020.
‘Nathaniel Mendez-Laing admitted the charge but was able to explain that the substance had been ingested out of competition in a context unrelated to sporting performance.’
The footballer had already served a ban for consuming the class A substance once previously in 2019.
Méndez-Laing helped Cardiff secure promotion to the Premier League in his first season with the club, but his contract was terminated for breach of contract in September 2020.
Méndez-Laing was arrested after a woman reported having been assaulted in a Magaluf nightclub (the image shows the Magaluf nightclub)
A statement from Mendez-Laing after serving his 2020 ban read: ‘With the help of my family, close friends, my agent and the PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) during this extremely difficult time, I have been able to overcome my personal obstacles, focus and invest my time in working hard, determined to return to football.
‘I appreciate all the support I have received throughout this time. I now want to leave that period of my life in the past, where it belongs.
“I’m excited about the future and thrilled to be back doing what I love.”
After leaving Cardiff, he went on to play for Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday before signing for Derby County in July 2022 and helping the side secure promotion to the EFL Championship in his second season with the club.
He represented England at under-16 and under-17 level, but began playing for Guatemala at international level last year.
Both his mother and maternal grandmother were born in the Central American country.
The footballer has not yet commented on his social networks about the incident in Magaluf.
