He might just have dodgy mates.
I'm non the wiser from that..............
Just three days out from the start of Cardiff City's 2020/21 Championship campaign, the club's fans were dealt a major blow when they learned one of their best players had just had his contract terminated.
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing was let go for what Neil Harris described on Thursday as a "serious breach of contract" after the club had announced the news in a stunning statement on Wednesday afternoon.
Here is everything we know so far and the big questions which still remain unanswered.
The bombshell announcement
There is no denying this came completely out of the blue.
When Neil Harris said the player had not turned up during pre-season due to personal reasons, all supporters took him at his word, as you would expect.
There was nothing out of the ordinary and no one wants to pry into an off-field personal issue, so City fans were right to think this would all be resolved and he would form part of a vaunted attacking line-up ready to take aim at the top of the Championship table this term.
Then, at 2pm on Wednesday, the club's announcement dropped, containing 26 words which spelled the end of Mendez-Laing's stay in the Welsh capital.
The statement read: "Cardiff City Football Club has, with immediate effect, terminated the contract of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
"The club will not be making any further comment on the matter."
The curtness, while understandable given the legal wranglings which appear to be bubbling beneath the surface, raised more questions than it answered.
The deleted social media pages
After the announcement, as can be expected, the rumour mill was rife, and it is best to apply some moderation when surfing social media and forums.
But eagle-eyed Bluebirds fans had spotted Mendez-Laing had indeed taken down his social media pages weeks before the announcement.
Some thought that, after he and his partner had just recently celebrated the birth of their first child, the player was seeking a little privacy in the off-season. And that might well have been the case.
On Friday morning, Mendez-Laing unblocked his social media, choosing to re-engage his Instagram page.
The only post he uploaded was a screenshot of a statement, issued on Thursday by his management.
It read: "Following on from [Wednesday's] announcement that I have left Cardiff City FC, I would like to place on record my thanks to the fans for the support they have shown me over the past three years".
"I will be making no further comment at this time."
Fans are unable to leave comments on the post as the function has been disabled.
As his social media goes, the player had been through an undulating few months.
On June 20, he had
his car smashed up and broken into on the eve of the Bluebirds' Championship return against Leeds United.
Before the game, he was staying at the Mercure Hotel on Newport Road in Cardiff on the eve of the match. This was the case because he lives away from the Cardiff area.
He posted the photos on Instagram and wrote: "Somebody broke into my car outside Mercure Hotel, Newport Road, Cardiff, if anybody hears anything lemme know."
With his car incapacitated, Mendez-Laing was forced to order a taxi to Cardiff City Stadium ahead of the match.
On July 8, however, there was happy news when the player shared on
Instagram that his partner had given birth to his baby boy, Táo.
But it wasn't long before the page was temporarily taken down.
A wall of silence
Trying to get to the ins and outs behind this decision has been like trying to get blood out of a stone.
There has largely been radio silence from the player's camp, releasing only the initial statement in which Mendez-Laing thanked City fans for their support over the last three years.
The PFA had been consulted throughout this process, however they have not responded to a request for comment made by WalesOnline.
Similarly, the EFL are not commenting after contact was made by WalesOnline.
The club have been unable to make any further, official announcements following their initial statement.
It must be said, though, Neil Harris fronted up and spoke brilliantly in his Thursday afternoon press conference.
He said he was bound by "legal protocol" not to divulge too much information, but gave a clear indication of the gravity of the situation and the fact the decision was not taken lightly.
"It’s a decision that hasn’t been taken lightly, it’s a serious decision that impacts on the football club and Mendez," the manager said.
"A lot of thought has gone into it but ultimately a decision was taken for the best interest of Cardiff City Football Club."
Harris said he was comfortable with the decision that had been taken.
The manager also said his door was always open if Mendez-Laing needed someone to lean on, but he had not spoken to the player in the 48 hours preceding Thursday's press conference.
The previous mysterious exit
Firstly, the caveat must be made that no links can be drawn between his Bluebirds departure and his mysterious exit at Peterborough, but it is certainly noteworthy.
Back in November 2012, Darren Ferguson's Peterborough United fined and transfer listed Mendez-Laing and three others over a "breach of club discipline".
Like in this instance, the reality of what that actually meant remained unclear, but what followed was a loan spell to Portsmouth just three days later.
"Peterborough United are disappointed to report that Gabriel Zakuani, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Emile Sinclair and Tyrone Barnett have been transfer-listed and fined by the football club following an internal investigation into a breach of club discipline," the statement read at the time.
"The club will be making no further comment on the matter."
So, while direct comparisons cannot be drawn between what happened there and what has happened at Cardiff, there is no getting away from the fact this is now two departures which have been shrouded in mystery.
He was eventually taken back in by Posh, with Ferguson claiming he held "no grudges" against Mendez-Laing for what had happened.
