Manchester City news: Ilkay Gundogan to offer support to Benjamin Mendy after injury

Full-back Mendy, signed for £50million from Monaco, injured his knee during the victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday and faces tests with City’s Barcelona-based medical team today.

But Guardiola compared Mendy’s situation with Gundogan, who has just returned to the first team after nine months out with a knee ligament injury.

Gundogan said: “I spoke to him but not really about the situation. He’s a guy who’s the most disappointed one. Our task now is just to support him and just to be there if he needs something from us. I know how difficult these kind of situations are. 

“There’s not really much to talk about at the moment. We just should try to behave as normal as possible. We wish him a very speedy recovery and we support him every way.”

Gundogan’s own recent comeback was derailed briefly by a minor problem he suffered in the recent EFL Cup win at West Brom but which only kept him out of the first team for a week.

And after appearing as a substitute in Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League victory over Shakhtar Donetsk, the German international looks set to keep his place for the eagerly awaited visit to defending champions Chelsea on Saturday night.

After an unbeaten start to the season, Gundogan said Manchester City have the mental strength to cope with such an occasion.

He said: “It’s a huge game and it’s away so it’s even more difficult but we feel ready. The last games showed it and today against a really strong team – especially in the second half, the performance was amazing. 

“It’s up to us to play our game and continue like that on Saturday and get a good result before the international break. It’s also about character, going to Stamford Bridge against the champions to play our game. 

“We’re going to prove that we are ready for that and hopefully it will be a great game for us.”