London, Nov 15 (IANS): Manchester City's French international defender Benjamin Mendy faces another spell on the sidelines following an operation on his left knee.

It is thought Mendy has undergone an operation on his left meniscus ligament, which will leave him out of action until at least the end of 2018, reports Xinhua news agency.

The defender played all 90 minutes of his side's 3-1 win over Manchester United on Sunday, but withdrew from the French national team squad at the start of the week in order to travel to Barcelona to undergo scans on the injury.

These scans showed he needed an operation which was carried out by the renowned surgeon Ramon Cugat.

Cugat had previously operated on Mendy in 2017 after he damaged the cruciate ligament on his right knee, two months after joining Manchester City from Monaco.

That injury caused him to miss a total of 43 games, although he was able to return to action before the end of the 2017-18 season and form part of the French World Cup squad which triumphed in Russia during the summer.