Benjamin Mendy's Manchester City Debut Pushed As Signing Recovers From Knee Injury
Pep Guardiola has revealed that recent summer arrival Benjamin Mendy will not be ready to feature for Manchester City just yet as he battles back from a knee injury.
The £52m arrival from Monaco picked up a knee problem on international duty with France in mid-June and, despite passing a medical at City's training base before his big-money move, is not yet over the issue.
Speaking ahead of City's pre-season clash with Real Madrid, Guardiola was quoted by the club's official Twitter account as he confirmed Mendy's absence for another fortnight.
The Spaniard also explained that his first-team squad had a number of concerning niggles - including one sustained by Mendy's former and current club-mate Bernardo Silva - to City's official site.
He said: "We are in pre-season so we have some players that still haven't played like Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva, some injured players."
Mendy limped off after half an hour of France's 3-2 victory over auld enemies England after a collision with Raheem Sterling on 13th June at the Stade de France.
The left-back has been working his way back to full fitness ever since - time which included an extended summer break following his commitments with Les Bleus - and will require time to get up to speed before he makes his debut for the last season's third-placed finishers.
Mendy became the subject of a two-way battle between City and Premier League champions Chelsea as the 22-year-old revelled in Leonardo Jardim's Monaco team last term.
The full-back helped the Stade Louis II-based outfit secure the Ligue 1 title, but opted to depart France for Manchester to join Silva in completing a switch to the Etihad ahead of the new season.
