Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy breached lockdown rules on New Year's Eve by hosting a small party at his £5million home - as reported by The Sun.

Three days prior, the former Premier League champions had their top flight clash with Everton called off because of a Covid outbreak amongst the squad. 

However, that apparently didn't deter the France international from celebrating the new year by inviting three people outside of his household over for a small gathering - a friend of his girlfriend's, their partner and a chef. 

Mendy - who Transfermarkt value at £25.2m - has already reported the incident to his club and admitted he breached guidelines by socialising with people he doesn't live with.

However, he claims to have turned away uninvited guests and denied that women who were spotted carrying the same golden balloons used for decorations at his pad also attended the party. 

Nonetheless, The Sun claim the news will infuriate manager Pep Guardiola, who says players are reminded on a daily basis to follow all guidelines. 

A neighbour reportedly said of the incident: "There was a lot of noise coming from the house and you could hear girls shouting and enjoying themselves.

"At midnight, there was an absolutely massive firework display. It must have cost a fortune and it went on for at least ten minutes.

"The partying clearly carried on until the early hours. Mendy is an idiot for breaking the rules so blatantly."

The left-back has some form here, too. Back in October, a small party was alleged to have been held at his home, although Mendy's representatives insisted the player himself wasn't present. 

GIVEMESPORT's Christy Malyan says...

It might be time for the Premier League to start thinking about disciplinary measures for these kinds of incidents.

As The Sun also documents, over the Christmas period we've seen evidence of Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic and Crystal Palace's Luka Milivojevic breaching lockdown rules together, as well as West Ham's Manuel Lanzini alongside Spurs trio Giovanni Lo Celso, Sergio Reguilon and Erik Lamela. 

Not only does it quite frankly look terrible for the Premier League when they're still having to call off games due to Covid outbreaks, but it also fits into a wider theme amongst Britain of the privileged seemingly circumventing lockdown rules. 

But as far as Mendy individually goes, The Sun branded him a 'Covidiot' and it's difficult to dispute that scathing pun. 

Not only did he audaciously tell his Twitter followers on New Year's Eve to "Take care of you and yours", but his City career also appears to be hanging by a threat right now. 

Injuries have massively impacted his form to the extent that he's not even a guaranteed starter when fit anymore, despite being the only out-and-out left-back in Guardiola's squad. 

But the off-field antics do him no favours either. This is a player who was previously disciplined by the club for turning up late for treatment after attending an Anthony Joshua fight and has been warned by his manager for having too big a profile on social media. 

Clearly Mendy hasn't learned his lesson from those incidents and in light of the Everton clash's postponement, he's created something of a PR disaster for his club.