Three reasons why Man City must drop Mendy and sign Alex Sandro

Manchester City are supposedly chasing Juventus left-back Alex Sandro, with reports in The Sun suggesting scouts were sent to Old Trafford to watch the Brazilian take on Manchester United in the Champions League.City haveÂalready spent a sizeable figure on a left-back, when the club signed Benjamin Mendy from Monaco for £52million, and are yet to see full value from the fee after the 24-year-old was ruled out for most of his debut season through a string of injuries.Meanwhile, Juventus are claimed to be open to the idea of losing Sandro, despite the defender’s contract running until 2020, for the Italian giants are chasing another Real Madrid regular in Marcelo after acquiring one of the world’s best in Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer.ÂTuttosport also understands Marcelo is keen on the move in January in order to link up with his former team-mate.So, although Mendy is a popular figure amongst City fans, does Sandro represent a viable upgrade? Here’s three seasons Guardiola should ditch the Frenchman and place his left-back hopes in the Juventus star, who Transfermarkt value at £40.5million.At 27, Sandro represents an older alternative to the French defender currently employed at the Etihad side, but there’s plenty of reason to splash the cash once more on a left-back.Although Mendy has spent a severe portion of his time in sky blue in the club’s medical room, when he has played the 6 foot defender has rarely shown he has a wealth of defensive ability.While both the French and Brazilian full backs are strong going forward, there will come a time when Guardiola needs whoever plays to step up and stop the opposition. So far, Sandro has shown himself to be more adept at this than Mendy, averaging a massive three tackles per match in the Champions League last season.Just like Mendy, Sandro is more than capable attacking the opposition, but the 5 foot 11 Sao Paulo native does it to another degree and is comfortable playing strictly from a midfield slot.In Italy, the Parananense product has often shipped in at the top of the field and set up his team-mates, finding nine goals and registering 14 assists in three seasons.Never has the Brazilian failed to average a key pass per game during his full seasons in Serie A, while WhoScored have recorded a minimum of 1.3 dribbles as well.One of the biggest criticisms of Mendy, unfortunately for the player, comes off the pitch, with the Frenchman’s love for Twitter acting against him. But it’s been difficult for the club to take a particularly hard line on his behaviour, including turning up several hours late for injury treatment, because they lack a viable alternative to replace him in the starting XI.Sandro represents that as arguably a superior option to Mendy anyway, while getting into far less trouble off the field, so bringing in the Brazilian would really buck the former Monaco man’s ideas up.Pep Guardiola himself joked earlier in the season that he wishes his player would focus more on being a player than a social media sensation.