The Scotsman

Mendy may not be last in the door at the Etihad

- By ANDY HAMPSON

Manchester City’s summer spending spree may not be over despite reaching the £200million-mark with the signing of left-back Benjamin Mendy from Monaco.

The 23-year-old became City’s fifth major recruit of the summer on Monday in a deal understood to be worth in excess of £49million.

His arrival follows those of Bernardo Silva, Ederson, Kyle Walker and Danilo and City may not be finished there with reports continuing to link the club with further additions, most notably Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez.

Manager Pep Guardiola is overseeing an overhaul of the squad ahead of his second season in charge.

Aleksandar Kolarov last week followed Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy and Jesus Navas out of the club.

Mendy has been particular­ly impressed by the club’s ambition to bring in top-level players.

The Frenchman said: “The technical leaders and the technical staff are very active in the transfer market, which means that Manchester City will have a strong and competitiv­e team for the Premier League and the other competitio­ns.

“I think I am the right person for the group. I am easily adaptable. I can bring a lot of creativity in the game. I can offer different solutions, I like to take play as full-back and provide assists for the strikers.”

Mendy has signed a sixyear contract with City. It was initially announced as a five-year deal but that detail was later amended.

Mendy has now joined up with City’s squad in the United States, where they are now preparing for a second pre-season tour game against Real Madrid in Los Angeles tonight.

He said: “I am very proud of joining Manchester City, this is what I wanted from the very beginning.

“As soon as the (French) championsh­ip was over, I talked to my family and it was all clear in my head, I wanted to join Manchester City. I’m really happy about it.”

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