Manchester City’s Mendy must take full advantage of injury to Zinchenko

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Manchester City have received another injury blow, with Oleksandr Zinchenko having undergone knee surgery in Barcelona.

The Ukraine international has missed the past couple of games, but will now be out of action for up to six weeks (BBC Sport) after having treatment in Spain under the supervision of Dr. Ramon Cugat.

Zinchenko has made seven appearances for City so far and is just the latest on a growing injury list to frustrate Pep Guardiola.

City are already without Aymeric Laporte, Leroy Sane and Rodri, and Kevin De Bruyne, Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones have all sustained injuries already this season.

Zinchenko’s lay-off is not ideal for Guardiola especially since he can play in two different positions, but it at least provides a clear run for Benjamin Mendy to finally shine.

TBR’s view – Mendy must take full advantage

The French international – who earns £90,000-a-week at the Etihad (Spotrac) – has had a frustrating time at City so far due to knee injuries, and many will be hoping now will be the time Mendy really arrives.

With Zinchenko out of the picture, there is arguably slightly less pressure for Mendy to deliver.

He must try and recapture the form he showed in his one and only season at AS Monaco, which is what convinced the Citizens to fork out £52 million for him in the summer of 2017 (BBC Sport).

Perhaps luckily for Mendy, Zinchenko had not been in the best form prior to his injury blow, so a decent run of games for the 25-year-old should see him nail down his place.

A poor run though, and Guardiola could easily shoehorn Joao Cancelo at left-back, or turn to the rarely seen Angelino.