Benjamin Mendy could miss the rest of the season for Manchester City after tests revealed he has ruptured his knee ligaments.

Mendy flew to Barcelona on Wednesday to see renowned specialist Dr Ramon Cugat and scans show he has seriously damaged his anterior cruciate ligaments.

The France defender will have an operation in Barcelona on Friday and faces months on the sidelines.

Mendy, who joined City for £52million from Monaco in the summer, was hurt in the first half of City’s 5-0 drubbing of Crystal Palace.

City were optimistic after initial scans on Monday and Pep Guardiola thought he would only be out for a matter of days.

But now Mendy and City have been left reeling from this hammer blow and Guardiola will move for another left-back in January because he has no recognised cover for the Frenchman.

Guardiola deployed Fabian Delph as a makeshift left-back against Shakhtar Donetsk and Danilo is his only other realistic alternative for Saturday’s showdown with Chelsea.