In the 2011–12Ligue 2, Mendes was joint third top scorer with 13 goals.[6]
Lille
On 1 September 2012, Mendes returned to Ligue 1 on a four-year deal at Lille. He joined for a €3 million fee – the club was in a good financial place after the sale of Eden Hazard to Chelsea – and his monthly salary rose from €7,000 to €120,000.[7] He missed the second half of his first season after having surgery on a right ankle tendon and remained on the sidelines until December 2013. He told the league's website that he was not going to retire despite the injuries.[8]
Mendes's opportunities at Lille were reduced after the dismissal of manager Rudi Garcia in 2013.[9] On 4 September 2015, Mendes joined English side Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan.[10] He scored his first goal for the club twenty days later, opening a 1–1 draw with Huddersfield Town.[11]
Later career
On 31 January 2017, Mendes signed for Kayserispor – ranked 17th in Turkey's Süper Lig – until the summer of 2020.[12] In July 2018, he terminated his deal and moved to Sharjah FC of the UAE Pro League on a three-year deal.[13] He won the league in his first season.[9][14]
Remaining in the United Arab Emirates, Mendes moved to Al-Nasr SC in Dubai on a two-year contract in July 2020.[15] On 10 August 2023, he went back to Turkey's top division and signed a two-year contract with Fatih Karagümrük.[16]
International career
Mendes was a member of the Cape Verde under-21 national team[17] and played formerly with the under-16s an international tournament in Gonfreville-L'Orcher.
He made his debut for the senior team on 11 August 2010, as a 58th-minute substitute for Babanco in a 1–0 friendly loss away to Senegal. His first international goal was scored on 8 October 2011, in a 2–1 loss at Zimbabwe in 2012 Africa Cup of Nationsqualification.[18]
Mendes scored the decider on 10 September 2014 as Cape Verde won 2–1 against Zambia in Praia, in 2015 Africa Cup of Nationsqualification.[25] He was called up for the finals in Equatorial Guinea,[26] playing in all three draws of a group-stage elimination.
In November 2020, he reached 50 international caps, for which he was rewarded with a shirt and plaque the following March.[27] A year later, he was called up for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon[28] and appeared in two of Cape Verde's matches at the tournament.[29]
In December 2023, Mendes was named in Cape Verde's squad for his fourth Africa Cup of Nations – the 2023 tournament in the Ivory Coast.[30] He captained the team in their opening two matches of the tournament – wins against Ghana (2–1), and Mozambique (3–0) – scoring and being named man of the match in the latter.[31] He later scored the only goal from a penalty in a 1–0 victory over Mauritania, which qualified his country to the quarter-finals.[32] date=20 June 2024