MX23RW : Saturday, December 21 11:21:08| >> :60:135:135:

Guardiola left confused over Mendy whereabouts

Guardiola left confused over Mendy whereabouts
© Reuters
Frenchman joked about being in Hong Kong.

Benjamin Mendy caused confusion over his whereabouts by claiming he was in Hong Kong on Friday.

The Manchester City defender, who is currently sidelined with a knee injury, posted a short video of himself on his Instagram account in which he seemed to tag himself in at Hong Kong International Airport.

The Frenchman later claimed he was only joking, but not until after he had caught his manager Pep Guardiola by surprise.

Guardiola was told of the posting as he held a press conference later in the day to preview the champions’ Premier League clash with Chelsea on Sunday.

Mendy had been in Barcelona on Thursday for assessment on his knee, on which he underwent surgery in November, with City’s preferred specialist Dr Ramon Cugat.

Asked why Mendy was in Hong Kong, Guardiola said: “Wow. I didn’t know it. F***, he’s a lucky guy.

Pep Guardiola was asked about Mendy's whereabouts
Pep Guardiola was asked about Mendy’s whereabouts (Nigel French/PA)

“He said he was going for one day to Paris, but Hong Kong – that’s far away. I don’t know. I have to install Instagram.

“Really I don’t know. Yesterday he was in Barcelona.”

Asked if it was OK for him to be in Hong Kong, Guardiola said: “Definitely not!”

Sky Sports News, who were broadcasting the press conference live, apologised for Guardiola’s language.

Mendy later clarified the situation by tweeting: “It was just joking with my uber driver I dont want no problems Pep.”

The 24-year-old posted further updates throughout the evening; replying to Kyle Walker’s tongue-in-cheek tweet and suggesting he was in Dubai when it appeared the full-back was back in Manchester.

Mendy has played just 27 minutes of football since his knee operation.

He appeared as a second-half substitute in City’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg win over Burton on January 23 but has missed the last four games as his comeback is carefully managed.

Guardiola said: “He’s injured. It’s not easy, meniscus, it’s not easy. He needs to re-adapt.

“It’s not that if you start training in two days you are fit. He has to handle the effort we are putting on him. He has to be careful.”

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Andy Hampson, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'f540d709-fdc7-4495-811f-6dd5730a37a3');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Guardiola left confused over Mendy whereabouts'});

ID:349736: cacheID:349736:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:8174:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
6pm
Texans
@
Chiefs
9.30pm
Steelers
@
Ravens
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool15113131131836
2Chelsea16104237191834
3Arsenal1686229151430
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest168442119228
5Manchester CityMan City168352823527
6Bournemouth167452421325
7Aston Villa167452425-125
8Fulham166642422224
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton166642625124
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1672736191723
11Brentford167273230223
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle166552321223
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd166462119222
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham165472129-819
15Crystal Palace163761721-416
16Everton153661421-715
17Leicester CityLeicester163582134-1314
18Ipswich TownIpswich162681628-1212
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1623112440-169
20Southampton1612131136-255


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!