Manchester City will not be in the market for a left-back this summer despite rumours about strong interest in Ben Chilwell.
The Blues will stick with current pair Benjamin Mendy and Aleks Zinchenko – with the latter now regarded as fully-fledged in the role after impressing in an emergency capacity.
Speculation has been rife that City would be looking to reinforce in that position after Mendy’s second successive season of injury woes.
Last month, Pep Guardiola himself said that signing a left back was “an option” .
He added: “He has been injured during two seasons. If it happens in two seasons it can happen in three.”
The speculation sparked by that centred on Leicester’s England international Chilwell.
And it intensified when Mendy was filmed in a Manchester nightclub in the early hours of the morning – something which was not a breach of club rules as he was not involved in the squd the following day, but which will not have impressed Guardiola.
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The fact that Zinchenko has gone from strength to strength has helped to sway City away from making left back a target area.
The possibility of a Fifa transfer ban for alleged breaches of the rules on signing overseas youngsters could also have informed the decision – although City appear confident that they will be exonerated.
Mendy has not been involved in a matchday squad since starting the second leg of the Champions League clash with Spurs a fortnight ago, and there has been no indication that he is injured.
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