Manchester City full-back Benjamin Mendy is facing a hugely important couple of months at the Etihad Stadium.
The France international returned to the starting XI against Fulham at the weekend for his first Premier League start since December.
Mendy is now into his fourth season at City following a £52 million transfer from AS Monaco in 2017 (BBC Sport).
There was huge hype at the time of his move, which made him the world’s most expensive defender at the time.
But sadly Mendy is one of very few transfers City have made in recent years that hasn’t been particularly good value.
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The two serious knee injuries he’s had have not helped his cause, but there have also been some disciplinary issues reported during his stint with the club.
Right now, he’s perhaps the one player in City’s squad who has something to prove.
And with Atalanta star Robin Gosens being linked with a move to the Etihad (TMW), Mendy potentially faces a very important couple of months in his Blues career.
Mendy must knuckle down or face being transfer-listed
It’s been a fantastic season for City so far and the vast majority of players in the squad have shown superb form.
But £90,000-a-week star Mendy (Spotrac) has faded into the background due to the performances of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Joao Cancelo.
Aymeric Laporte and 2020 signing Nathan Ake can also operate at left-back if needed, making Mendy’s place in the squad vulnerable.
After the victory over Fulham, Pep Guardiola stated (mancity.com) how happy he was with Mendy’s performance and also described him as ‘an exceptional human being’.
Clearly, the Spaniard is still fond of Mendy, but realistically the 2018 World Cup-winner needs a strong finish to the season – given the plethora of left-sided options – if he wants to stick around.