Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa looks on (Image: GETTY)
Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has revealed he held talks with Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa before he joined the Premier League champions. France international Mendy joined City in the summer of 2017 for a fee of £52million.
As most foreign players do when weighing up a move to the Premier League, Mendy had some reservations about swapping his homeland for England.
Ahead of his transfer to the Etihad, the 25-year-old reached out to Bielsa - who managed him during his time at Marseille - to get his advice on the move.
And the Argentine was quick to encourage Mendy to grasp the opportunity to work under Pep Guardiola with both hands.
“Before I moved to Man City, I was talking to Bielsa and I asked him, 'What do you think of it?'" Mendy said during a recent interview with The Football Show.
Benjamin Mendy played under Marcelo Bielsa during his time at Marseille (Image: GETTY)
Before I moved to Man City, I was talking to Bielsa
Benjamin Mendy
“But what I feel is before I could even ask my question, he told me directly, ‘Go with Pep’.
"So I took the message and when I talked with Pep, I knew why Bielsa told me that.”
World Cup winner Mendy, who has been plagued by injury during his time at the Etihad, sees similarities between his former manager and current boss.
“I think they are similar," Mendy said of Bielsa and Guardiola. "They [play] approximately the same football, they like to have the ball and when we lose the ball, to do high pressing.
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