When Pep Guardiola was lured to the Etihad Stadium as the successor of Manuel Pellegrini, it was perceived that his tactical nous with the well constructed Manchester City side would take the Premier League by storm.
However, having navigated the Citizens for a season, by now, Guardiola must have realised that his endeavours in the English top tier are not going to be anything short of his toughest test and that the unparalleled animosity which exists in the Premier League is no fluke.
The Manchester based outfit could only muster a third place finish in the Premier League last term as the former Bayern Munich boss failed to cultivate the levels of productivity he would have liked or what the fans and media alike expected from him.
Fullback slots were evidently the prime areas of concern and Guardiola is planning to tighten the screws in the summer transfer window. If the latest reports are to be believed, City have agreed a fee for Monaco’s left-back Benjamin Mendy.
The Ligue 1 side has been offered a £51.6million bid by Manchester City, who have already couped Tottenham Hotspur’s right-back Kyle Walker for £45million, rising to £50million with add-ons. They have already signed Ederson from Benfica and Bernardo Silva from Monaco and adding Mendy could be the final piece of the jigsaw.
The intentions of Guardiola of bolstering his arsenal and amending the existing loopholes are quite clear and his apparent interest in Mendy, who registered a fine season in France’s top flight, makes perfect sense. The former Marseille man is an exceptional player who is a modern-day fullback.
Strong, well-built and very athletic, Mendy is an accomplished driver of the ball down the left and crosses the ball into the ball quite well. Although he still needs to brush up the defensive side of his game, he is a resounding attacker and indulges himself into engineering goal scoring opportunities for his team.
Despite being in his learning years, Mendy has shown immense maturity and perseverance. The 23-year-old made 25 Ligue 1 appearances last term, whilst his he gathered 5 assists to his name, apart from recording 1.9 tackles, 1.6 interceptions, 2.4 clearances and 0.9 blocks per game on an average.
Manchester City are looking forward to clinching the league title as well as to make a mark in the Champions League and their transfer activities are a testament to the same. With a move under the stewardship of Guardiola, the youngster can blossom further and without any shadow of a doubt, he would be an astute signing for City.
Statistics Credits: WhoScored
