Bought for over £50m, Benjamin Mendy’s early season knee injury was a huge blow to Pep Guardiola’s and Manchester City’s plans for the season.
It’s not like they’ve really missed him, still managing to open up a 16 point gap at the top of the Premier League, but using Fabian Delph and Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back was never really what the Spaniard had in mind.
The France international hasn’t exactly been quiet during his rehab either, using social media as best he can to keep everyone up to date, making it clear he was getting closer and closer to a return.
With a World Cup spot to play for in the summer, the 23-year-old will be raring to go as soon as possible, as explained by his teammate Bernardo Silva in an interview with Mohamed Bouhafsi, relayed by Le10 Sport, who gave a more precise timeline as to when the defender should be back.
He said: “He’s someone who works a lot. I think he’ll be with us in about three weeks. If he plays and recovers well, I think he’ll be at the World Cup. I hope so for his sake. I’m happy he’s nearly back.
“He has a huge desire to go to the World Cup. I’ve spoken about it with him and he told me it’s a huge goal of his to play in the competition”.
With the likes of Layvin Kurzawa, Lucas Digne and Jordan Amavi as his main competition for a spot on the plane to Russia, it’s fair to say that if he’s back fully fit and playing regularly with Manchester City, Benjamin Mendy will get his chance to go to the World Cup.
It all depends on how much he ends up playing in the final months of the season.
