Could Monaco’s Benjamin Mendy be set to follow Bernardo Silva to Manchester City?

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Manchester City are not messing about at the beginning of this transfer window as they are already closing in on the signing of Bernardo Silva. However, the Portuguese international may not be the last arrival from AS Monaco, as the club are keen on left-back Benjamin Mendy.

According to RMC, the Citizens are leading the race to sign the 22-year-old ahead of rivals Manchester United. The rumoured fee is €45 million, which is a significant outlay for a full-back, but Pep Guardiola is willing to pay it. Although City are the favourites to land him, the report goes on to suggest that their inability to close a deal thus far could allow rival clubs to beat them to Mendy’s signature. Liverpool, Chelsea and Barcelona are all credited with an interest.

What would he bring to Manchester City?

It is clear why Manchester City are pursuing the French left-back. They have had severe problems at full-back during the past campaign and will be looking to strengthen on both sides of the pitch. Mendy delivered an excellent performance across the two Champions League matches against City and it isn’t a surprise that Guardiola is targeting him this summer. In terms of his profile, Mendy possesses a good physicality with pace and power, which should allow him to adapt quickly to the Premier League. His work rate and tactical awareness will suit the City manager’s style of coaching. It is a move that makes a lot of sense for the Citizens.

Mendy looks to overlap at every possible opportunity and he caused City a lot of problems during the second-leg of their Champions League tie and played a part in two goals for Monaco that evening. During the Ligue 1 season, he contributed five assists and created an average of 1.09 chances per ninety minutes. He ended the season with a successful take ons percentage of 56.06% and his powerful running style allows him to beat opposition defenders. City lacked dynamism from their full-backs this season and Mendy will go a long way to resolving that problem.

If there is one slight weakness to his game, it is defensive. He is far from poor, but he can be caught out of position at times and struggle to come out on top against quality wingers. His recovery pace helps him a lot when caught up the field, but he needs to become more intelligent with his forward runs. This season, he averaged 3.59 ball recoveries per ninety minutes, showing that he can contribute defensively. However, there is room for improvement if he wants to be considered a world-class full-back.