The French fullback is determined to show fans the ‘real’ him after struggling with injury and form
Manchester City left-back Benjamin Mendy has warned Kevin De Bruyne he’s ready to fight for his assists when the defender is back to his best.
The 25-year-old has struggled with fitness and form since moving to the Etihad in 2017 from Monaco but has shown glimpses of his attacking potential.
Before this season was suspended due to the coronavirus, Mendy had contributed four assists across 23 appearances in all competitions with a knee injury seeing him miss the start of the campaign.
The Frenchman admits City fans are yet to see him at his best and that they should expect him to be an asset in both defence and attack once he reaches his peak.
“It’s not easy. Personally, I cannot say that I am ok because if I say that I am ok, it’s selfish, like I don’t have some ambition,” Mendy told Sky Sports’ The Football Show.
“First of all, for the people who believe in me and took me to join Man City, for all the fans in the stadium and around the world, the people who come to watch the game and for the people like that, it is more that I feel sorry [for them].
“I would like to do something else but I can’t because the injury I had, it was not easy, and it’s for them that I want to fight and really show why Man City took me…This was my way from the beginning until my injury. I’m working hard to come back to my best level and why not more, because every day we can improve and give to Man City the real Benjamin Mendy.
“Maybe I do some good games, maybe I do some bad games, but the top Mendy, we don’t see him because I need, not a long time, but to keep going to play and play, to come back at the best level.
“One time, I was injured after I came back, then there was something else, and now we have the Covid like all the world. I would like to prefer to play and give everything now for the people to see the real Mendy but if I need to wait, I’m going to wait. I know the time will come and I’m still working.
“Sometimes I talk with Kevin De Bruyne, and I tell him ‘when I’m going to be at 100, we’re going to fight for the assists’. He’s the king, he’s the top, top level but it’s this that makes you want to go up more levels again and again. This year, he has given me a lot of ambition.”
With the Premier League currently targeting a restart in mid-June, Mendy has declared he’s ready to return once authorities deem it safe to do so.
“I’m ready to go back. I wait, and the people and staff at Man City are going to text me about when to train and when the league is going to start. The team, they want to protect the player and their family, I think it is like that for every team,” Mendy said.
“We wait, we follow the rules, we stay at home, we need to do like everyone in the world and when they say ok, I think it is because they take every precaution for the players playing.”
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