Pep Guardiola has admitted “unstoppable” left-back Benjamin Mendy has been missed by Manchester City, despite results suggesting otherwise.
Due to multiple knee injuries, Mendy has been limited to just 18 appearances for the club, since joining from Monaco for £49.2m in July 2017.
City turned to Fabian Delph last season to plug the gap on the left side of their defence, while Oleksandr Zinchenko has been pressed into duty there this season.
Both have performed well, despite being natural central midfielders, but Guardiola believes Mendy adds a different dimension to his team.
When asked how much City have missed the 24-year-old Frenchman, Guardiola said: “The results that we have had in the last two years would say not too much.
“But I say I have missed him a lot. I had the feeling he could give us [something] extra, so hopefully in the last part of the season, and in the future, the club can use him.
“When he pushes from outside, from the left side, he is unstoppable and, especially in the last third, he is so clever.
“He does not cross to cross. He is clever when he does these kinds of actions.
“But in the last season and a half, he has played in few games and [for] all the training and practice, he was not there.
“We will need some time to adjust, especially his quality, for what we need.”
Mendy has been out since having surgery on a knee ligament problem in November but will be part of the squad for City’s Carabao Cup semi-final, second leg at Burton Albion on Wednesday evening, live on Sky Sports Football.
With City 9-0 up from the first leg, Guardiola will use the game as an opportunity to play some younger players, but his starting line-up will also feature some bigger names, such as Kevin De Bruyne, who will use it to build up their fitness.
“Some players need rhythm so they are going to play, the first-team guys who have not got a lot of games in their legs,” Guardiola confirmed.
“Those who have not played too much lately, or are coming back from injury, are going to play.”
With regular back-up goalkeeper Claudio Bravo still out with an Achilles injury, Arijanet Muric will start and Guardiola is excited about the 20-year-old Kosovan’s potential.
“We believe he has incredible potential as a ‘keeper. His is tall, he is fast and he is strong. He is not a guy who is scared to play, even in tough moments,” Guardiola said.
“So he has a chance to show us how good he is.” (Agency Report)
