Manchester City injury news: Pep Guardiola reveals Benjamin Mendy's knee injury worse than originally feared

Pep Guardiola has confirmed Manchester City will be looking to bring in a new left-back in the January transfer window after admitting that Benjamin Mendy is likely to spend a long spell on the sidelines.

The France international moved to the Etihad from AS Monaco in the summer transfer window. He made his debut in City's 2-1 Premier League win over AFC Bournemouth and so far has four starts in the league and also started in the Champions League victory over Feyenoord.

Mendy suffered a knee injury in City's 5-0 victory over Crystal Palace at the Etihad on 23 September. He was withdrawn after 28 minutes and was replaced by another summer signing Danilo against the Eagles.

City registered a 2-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk at home on 26 September. The former Bayern Munich manager confirmed in his post-match press conference that Mendy will be travelling to Barcelona to see a specialist to find out the full extent of the damage.

Mendy was the only out-and-out left-back available in the squad at City, while Danilo also can play in that position. Fabian Delph started in City's latest Champions League win over Shakhtar. Guardiola has alternatives to Mendy, but stressed the defender's injury is a "major setback."

"We will see in January. We thought next summer we would look for another left-back but we will see what we will do," Guardiola was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

"We have alternatives in the squad - Danilo, (Fabian) Delph, Fernandinho can play there. We will see as we go along."

"He is travelling to Barcelona and we are going to see what he has. Our first impression is that it will it be a little long, longer than we expected which is unfortunate. But I am pretty sure it will be longer than we would like.

"It's very frustrating for him, first as a person but, like what happened with (City midfielder) Ilkay Gundogan, I feel really sad for him.

"The way we want to play, we will miss him a lot. He is a unique player, the joy he gives on and off the pitch. I think it is a major setback."