Man City crock Benjamin Mendy out for start of new season after latest knee injury… which could take him 90 games missed
BENJAMIN MENDY is nearing a century of missed Manchester City matches having suffered yet another fitness blow – opening the door for Angelino to claim his second chance.
The young Spanish defender was surprisingly brought back to the Etihad by Pep Guardiola last month – just 12 months after leaving to join PSV Eindhoven on a permanent deal.
And his return – for a bargain £5.3million – could be timely with French World Cup winner Mendy still battling knee problems.
The £49.3m man has spent the summer in Barcelona doing rehab with Guardiola’s preferred specialist Dr Ramon Cugat.
Taking into account the £10.4m wages Mendy has earned, his total cost is a whopping £2.6m per game.
Breaking that down across the 1,721 minutes he’s played in 23 matches, the Frenchman clocks in at £35,000 PER MINUTE.
He is not due to return to Manchester until the first part of August – so will miss the first few weeks of the new campaign to add to his total of 87 missed games so far.
That could open the door for Angelino, 22, – who will battle Oleksandr Zinchenko for the spot on the left of City’s defence in the first few games.
FIGHTING FOR THE LEFT OVERS
It is the one spot that Guardiola has struggled to fill in the last couple of years with Mendy making only 17 league starts in that time.
Zinchenko, Danilo and Fabian Delph have all had stints there but Angelino wants to prove he is the best option.
He said: “That’s my aim – but I need to play as many matches as I can.
“It feels great to be back and proves that all the hard work I did in Holland was worth it.”
Angelino had several loan spells before finally joining PSV Eindhoven last summer.
PSG and Arsenal looked at signing him for a fee of more than £20million before City took up their option to buy him back.
I didn’t expect the call from City but I was hoping for it.
Angelino
Angelino jumped at the opportunity, saying: “I knew there was a chance to come back. I didn’t expect the call from City but I was hoping for it.
“I started here at City so this was my main focus to get back here.”
“I think I’ve improved and I’m not the same player I was when I was here before.
“The last season at PSV was really good and hopefully I can do the same.
“Playing as many games as you can helps. I played in everything there and that was one of the main things you need as a player.”
Now he has the chance to play for Guardiola’s City team – who have picked up five major trophies in the last two years.
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He believes his attacking nature makes him well suited to the way the former Barcelona boss wants to play.
“There’s been big changes here in the last few year,” noted Angelino. “Pep has changed the style of play, it’s very dominant now.
“Of course I like playing this type of football. Most of my time at PSV we were dominant also – and that’s the way I like to play.”
