Benjamin Mendy sends warning to Man City teammate Kevin De Bruyne

Benjamin Mendy's Manchester City career has been hit by plenty of injury setbacks but he hopes they are now behind him.

Benjamin Mendy says he wants to challenge Kevin De Bruyne in the Manchester City assists charts when the season resumes.

Mendy has had another injury-interrupted season at City, playing just 23 games. Now, he says he is ready to kick on at City, insisting fans have not seen the best in him since he joined the club in 2017.

The Frenchman has only made 46 appearances for City in those three years, with his best form at the club - at the start of the 2018/19 season - bringing five assists in 11 games. He has 10 assists for the club in total.

As he confirmed his desire to hold down a place in Pep Guardiola's side for an extended period and repay City's loyalty in him, Mendy also revealed his desire to continue providing assists from the left which made him so popular with fans at the start of last season.

"My target is playing. Keep playing," he told Sky Sports' Football Show.

"Sometimes I talk with Kevin de Bruyne, I tell him when I'm going to be at 100 [per cent] we're going to fight for the assists.

"He's the king, he's like the top, top level. But this makes you go the one more level and again and again. This year he give me a lot of ambition."

Mendy will have some job on his hands to compete with De Bruyne, who is closing in on Thierry Henry's Premier League record of 20 assists in a season. De Bruyne has 16 from 26 Premier League appearances this season, with an impressive 85 assists in 209 total appearances for City.