No rush to get Mendy back on the pitch
PEP Guardiola will not worry about how to get Benjamin Mendy back into the City team before he has to.
The French defender is closing in on a return to duty after being sidelined since September with a serious injury.
Mendy had already shown what he can bring to the team, and took just three league games to put more crosses into the box than Aleks Kolarov and Gael Clichy combined managed in the entirety of last season.
But without a direct replacement, Guardiola had to change the set-up of his team and Mendy will come back to a different side than the one injury forced him away from – with the left-backs generally moving forward and inside to leave Leroy Sane to attack down the left touchline.
It is a teaser for the manager, who will have to consider whether to change the way his team plays to accommodate Mendy or vice versa, or a mix of the two. Regardless, it is a problem he can put off.
Despite making good progress in recent weeks, the defender still does not have a date he is expected to return to the team and recently played down the idea that the Manchester derby this weekend was a realistic aim.
“My first thinking now about Mendy is when he will be fit and ready, I’m not thinking about anything else,” said City manager Guardiola.
“If he is ready then he can play, and after we’ll see.”