ALEXANDRE Mendy says he still hasn't fully recovered from his Sunderland summer transfer saga - but has definitively ruled out a move in January.

Mendy made repeated public pleas to join the Black Cats in the summer window and urged Caen to sanction his exit.

Such was the striker's desire to join Sunderland, he packed his bags ready for the move and was training alone rather than with his Caen teammates.

But the French second tier club - who were taken over in the summer by Interconnected Ventures, founded by Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe, stood firm and refused to budge in their demands for Mendy, who were they desperate to keep.

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Caen eventually had their way and Mendy admitted defeat in his bid to join the Black Cats and has since been reintegrated into Nicolas Seube's side, starting three successive league games.

But he says he still hasn't managed to put the summer drama completely behind him.

"I’ve not recovered 100 per cent, there are still a few after-effects," he told the media in France.

"The after-effects of what was said, what happened in the past and also everything to do with my family: having packed my bags, having thought about going elsewhere, all those things.

“That will go away with time, but today I feel good on the pitch. The furniture has gone up but the boxes haven’t been unpacked yet. It’s taking a long time, there are a lot of boxes to unpack. We haven’t got the time yet, we’re concentrating on the football and when there’s the next break we’ll unpack everything.”

Mendy says he feels "great" to now be back on the pitch and thinks he'll soon rediscover top form.

And although he was so desperate to move in the summer, he says there'll be no repeat in the January window.

“I have learned to live day by day, since planning ahead has not worked out too well for me," he said.

"I will be there tomorrow; we will see what happens next. I have no deadline or absolutely no desire to leave in [after] December.”