With Premier League clubs given permission to return to training this week ahead of the planned resumption of the league following the coronavirus pandemic, Pep Guardiola's side were back at the City Football Academy on Monday, turning up in 15-minute intervals to ensure adherence to health and safety guidelines. [via Manchester Evening News]

Mendy may well be more eager than most to get back playing, considering that he had established himself in Guardiola's first XI before football ground to a halt in mid-March. He had started nine of City's last 12 Premier League games, as well as the Champions League win away to Real Madrid, finally enjoying a sustained run of matches after a stop-start first half of the season (as per TransferMarkt).

Since arriving at the Etihad Stadium from Monaco three years ago in a £52m deal, the French defender has endured the agony of a cruciate ligament rupture in his first season in Manchester and another lengthy knee injury in the 2018/19 campaign. Only this term had he finally enjoyed a season largely untroubled by fitness problems.

At the start of the season, Oleksandr Zinchenko seemed in firm control of the left-back spot in Guardiola's XI, but Mendy had wrestled that off him in the opening weeks of 2020. It took a global pandemic to halt his overdue run in the team but his Instagram post hints at a strong desire to get back to the form he had shown during the winter months, when his performances won the approval of numerous Manchester City supporters.

Man City fans, how well did you think Mendy had been playing prior to the season being stopped? Do you think he can rediscover his best form if the season restarts soon? Comment below with your views!