Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany has admitted that the club have found themselves a new Mario Balotelli character in defender Benjamin Mendy.

The Frenchman made his big comeback to City after suffering an injury during his first season at the club which kept him out for the majority of their campaign.

He notched two assists for his team on the opening day of the season, as the Blues beat Arsenal 2-0 in order to show their league ambitions have not changed in the slightest.

Mendy has been seen as a bit of a joker since his arrival at City, not least on social media. Manager Pep Guardiola joked that he sometimes wanted to kill the Frenchman, but admitted that’s just the way the left-back is.

And Kompany, who experienced Balotelli’s madness first hand, has compared the two – saying that Mendy often fails to see boundaries that others would.

Talking in a BBC podcast, Kompany said: “We had Balotelli, now we have Mendy. But Mendy has a heart of gold – he is such a nice person, and a character.

“He doesn’t see the same boundaries as we sometimes do. The lines are blurred sometimes between what should be done and what shouldn’t.

“But in Manchester, more than anywhere else, we can embrace a personality like this, and they love him for that reason.

“I love him for what he offers on the pitch. It’s a big season for him and I hope we’ll see the best of him as well.”

It’s been a fantastic start to the season by Mendy, who truly feels like a new signing for the club after such a long time out of action.