Mendy and Stones all set for a Pep reprieve
THE Benjamin Mendy meltdown at Chelsea may cause a City re-think of their summer transfer window plans.
If his triple error - which handed Christian Pulisic the opening goal and led to the Blues ceding the Premier League title to Liverpool - was a oneoff, it would be excusable.
But Mendy has been culpable before and, even though he had started to look a lot more like a £52m left-back, the doubts remain.
He has lowered his social media profile and has had the longest injuryfree run since he joined the Blues three years ago.
And Pep Guardiola is still unsure about the player, who has a big month coming up, before preparations for the Champions League begin.
The Blues boss also has reservations about John Stones, despite being a constant champion of the defender, while there have been noises from the player’s camp that he might need to leave to resurrect his England fortunes.
But with Claudio Bravo, Nicolas Otamendi and Joao Cancelo all set to leave this summer, the depletion of the squad means those three areas have to be addressed.
The Blues are already a centre-back down, even though Fernandinho has done a fine job, and finding a long-term partner for Aymeric Laporte has to be the priority.
That will come at a cost - other clubs know City are desperate and will hike their fees accordingly.
Even with expected income from the likely sale of Leroy Sane and Cancelo, the Blues will be at full stretch to bring in the players they need.
A reserve goalkeeper may not cost a packet, but a replacement for Cancelo certainly will, unless City can come up with something smart.
All of which means that the budget is limited, and the players they need will come at a premium.
Buying a top-class centre back and a right-back to challenge and rotate with Kyle Walker will be expensive, while another keeper could also dig into the available funds.
So the prospect of buying a second centre-back, and another leftback, might just have to take a back seat.
The situation is similar to Guardiola’s first summer, when City eventually had to live with the four ageing full-backs they had in order to focus their spending on the rest of the team. Eric Garcia’s development is a bonus, and Taylor Harwood-Bellis should add to the options a year or two down the line, but to launch a fightback in the league next season, those two positions need strengthening more than any other.
Mendy is rapidly using up the manager’s patience, while Stones’ development seems to have stalled although it is hard to determine how much of that is down to his bad luck with injuries.
But in order to bring in the players who are an absolute must, it could be that Guardiola needs to give both players another chance.
Mendy is rapidly using up the manager’s patience while Stones’ development seems to have stalled Stuart Brennan