Benjamin Mendy can be as frustrating as he is funny. He's the sort of footballer that would forget to bring his boots to his debut for Ligue 2 side Amiens as a 17-year-old and then make up for it by borrowing a pair and setting up a goal.
Eight years on from his first ever appearance and now with Manchester City, the French defender now has Pep Guardiola trying to rein in some of the crazy antics that have been synonymous with his career so far.
Some of the incidents have been amusing - like when he was in Barcelona for treatment but pretended on Instagram to be in Hong Kong, only for Guardiola to be shocked when asked if that was okay during a press conference.
Some have been potentially reckless - like when he hobbled down the touchline in a knee brace after cruciate ligament surgery to celebrate a Raheem Sterling's injury-time winner against Southampton with his team-mates.
And some have been foolish - like when he was late for training after attending an Anthony Joshua world title fight in London the night before.
But none have been malicious and Mendy is such an entertaining and likeable figure that Guardiola appreciates his ability to help his squad bond and stay close - even making a contribution away from the pitch when he has been out with a serious injury.
The City boss asked him to calm down a little, particularly his social media output, to focus on his football with the France international having the ability to be one of the best left-backs in the world.
Bacary Sagna spent a year playing under Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium and he believes that Mendy is finally showing the sort of maturity to get back to his best form that convinced City to pay £52 million (€59m/$63m) to take him from Monaco, almost three years ago.
"Well he’s more focused now - you don’t see him so much on social networks," the former City defender told Goal.
"He had a big injury which is very difficult to come back from, so everyone blamed it on not being focused.
"But after such a big injury, it takes at least one year to come back to your best level and he’s now coming back at the right time.
"He’s getting stronger and more confident and the way he moves is more fluid. He’s getting better and better."
Mendy hasn't had it easy since he joined City. A serious cruciate knee ligament injury wiped out the majority of his first Etihad campaign after a brilliant start when he showed his flair to get forward and complement City's fast attacks.
A different knee injury had a further impact on his second season and it has led to question marks about whether he would ever be the long-term first choice at left-back.
Mendy had made his most appearances in a City season this campaign before it was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic that threatens to cut it short all together.
Before then, there were signs that the 25-year-old was really getting to grips with playing in a Guardiola system. One recent example was in the impressive 2-1 victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu when he struck a sensible balance between enterprise and restraint to help City to a memorable win.
Sagna says that Guardiola is very particular about what he wants from his players and that it's all worked through on the training ground ahead of matches.
"You have to be more than a full-back, you have to be a midfield player and a sprinter too," he revealed.
"It’s not so difficult, you just have to be focused during training because whenever he asks you to do something and be at a certain point, you have be ready.
"It’s like playing chess. He has the plan and you have to respect the plan. One single player can kill the plan and you don’t want to be that player because he won’t be happy.
"He wants you to be confident and fearless. You have to be very confident when you play for him.
"You have to play his game and as a full-back you have to do more than just defending. You have to get forward, you have to be right in the way you defend whenever you have the ball.
"You have to be very focused on what he wants."
Mendy is getting there. In some ways, the unwanted football hiatus couldn't have come at a worse time for him, just as he was starting to show his true value on the pitch.
But with the players isolated from each other and keeping in touch via the HouseParty app, it's also a reminder that, while he has settled down a little, his enthusiastic optimism will be priceless in keeping up the spirit and unity in Guardiola's squad for when life finally gets back to normal.
