Mendy ‘sorry’ as number of Premier League clubs launch probes into string of Covid rule breaches

Manchester City will investigate reports defender Benjamin Mendy hosted friends at his house on New Year's Eve in breach of Covid rules.

According to reports, Mendy has admitted allowing a chef and two friends of his partner to attend his Cheshire home, despite regulations which prevent people from different households from mixing indoors.

A Manchester City spokesman said: “The club is disappointed to learn of the transgression and will be conducting an investigation.”

A spokesman for Mendy said :“Benjamin and his partner allowed a chef and two friends of his partner to attend his property for a dinner party on New Year's Eve. Ben accepts this is a breach of Covid-19 protocols and is sorry for his actions. Ben has had a Covid test and is liaising with City.”

City are among the clubs to have suffered an outbreak of the virus within their squad in recent days, with their match at Everton on December 28 postponed at late notice after the number of players affected reached five.

On Saturday, pictures emerged of Tottenham trio Erik Lamela, Sergio Reguilon andGi ova ni LoCe ls oatt ending a large house party in London over Christmas, in breach of the regulations.

A Spurs statement said the club “strongly condemn” the actions of the players.

West Ham's Manuel Lanzini was also in attendance at the same party. The player issued an apology for his “bad mistake” while the club said the matter had been dealt with internally.

Meanwhile Fulham, whose match at Burnley on Sunday has been postponed due to positive cases at the club, are investigating pictures that emerged on social media on Friday showing Aleksandar Mitro vic and fellow Se rb Luka Milivojevic, of Crystal Palace, along with their families on December 31.