Ilkay Gundogan promises to help new Man City team-mate Benjamin Mendy through his knee injury nightmare
German has returned from 10 months on sidelines with cruciate problem and has seen new-boy suffer similar issue
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ILKAY GUNDOGAN has promised to help new Manchester City team-mate Benjamin Mendy through his injury nightmare.
The German international has just returned from almost 10 months on the sidelines with a cruciate knee problem.
And on Saturday he saw full-back Mendy carried off with a knee ligament problem during the win over Crystal Palace.
Mendy flew to Barcelona for tests today but City fear he could miss several months - with some reports claiming he may be ruled out for the rest of the season.
And Gundogan, 26, says he will do what he can to help the £49.3million man make a speedy and straight-forward recover.
He said: I think our task now is just to support him and just to be there if he needs something from us.
“I know how difficult these kind of situations are.
“There’s not really much to talk about at the moment. We just should try to behave as normal as possible.
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“We wish him a very speedy recovery and we support him every way.
“Of course I spoke to him. I think he’s a guy who’s the most disappointed one.”
City expect to know the extent of Mendy's injury in the next 24 hours and could look to buy a replacement in January if he is out for the season.
Gundogan himself made his first start in the Carabao Cup win over West Brom last month and ended up being carried off again.
However he recovered quickly from a minor knee sprain and was back on the bench for the Champions League win over Shakhtar.
He added: “I feel good, I feel trained. I feel good in training and if the team needs me I am there.
“Of course, over the next few weeks, I want to play more and more but all step-by-step.
“I know that I had a long injury, I was out for a long, long time so the expectations now are maybe not the highest.
“And I know there is still a way to go to be back at my best but I feel ready. And I take all the challenges and I’m just happy to be back.”
