Time is running out for the Belgian striker, who insists he wants to stay and fight for his place with the Blues after turning down the chance to go out on loan.
With owner Thaksin Shinawatra talking of bringing in at least one new forward over the summer, it's difficult to know exactly where Mpenza goes from here.
But with Benjani firmly established as the Blues' first-choice striker in a 4-5-1 formation, Valeri Bojinov on the way back from a cruciate knee ligament injury, Daniel Sturridge set to play a far more significant role next season and Ched Evans likely to be knocking on the door too once he returns from his loan spell at Norwich, Mpenza's City future increasingly looks as if it could be measured in weeks.
Niggling injuries and loss of form have prevented the 29-year-old from building on an impressive start to life in English football at the back-end of last season. And as a result, Mpenza has become the forgotten man of Sven-Goran Eriksson's City revolution.
It's a sign of just how far Mpenza's fortunes have slipped during the past 12 months that he was even linked with moves to Cardiff and Leicester, the latter a team who, on current form, are likely to be playing in League One next season.
Confirmation of Leicester's interest came from his own agent Rachid Tajmot, who would surely have let it be known if the striker was being swamped with offers from clubs higher up the food chain.
While a loan move to a lower-order Championship clubs is ideal for Kelvin Etuhu and Ched Evans - young City strikers still learning their trade and in need of first-team games - it could hardly be called progress for a forward pushing 30 with international and Champions League experience.
It is disappointing that the campaign has fizzled out like this for a striker who set himself a target of 10 goals this season.
He looked as though he had a chance of in the autumn, scoring three times in his first five starts.
Carling Cup
A well-taken goal in the Carling Cup victory at Bristol City in August opened his account under the Eriksson regime, and boded well for the campaign ahead.
Further strikes against Fulham and Newcastle followed in September. And since then, nothing.
Mpenza has failed to complete 90 minutes for the Blues since scoring in that 3-1 victory over Newcastle on September 29.
In fact, he has made only five starts since then, and hasn't managed to get on to the pitch at all since the 3-1 home defeat by Arsenal on February 2, a few days after Felipe Caicedo's transfer from Basel was tidied up, and a few days before the red tape surrounding Benjani's move from Portsmouth was finally untangled.
It's tempting to speculate that Mpenza's last chance to convince Eriksson that he was worth a run in the side disappeared the moment the Premier League approved the Benjani deal.
Eriksson has sprung surprises with his team selections before, and for that reason alone, Mpenza should not give up hope completely.
But it is starting to look as though Mpenza's big chance to fight his way back into the side following an injury-riddled Christmas came and went in the FA Cup defeat at Sheffield United in late January.
That was the first - and so far only - match Mpenza had started for the Blues since the end of November. With that game coming days after Rolando Bianchi's departure for Lazio on loan, Eriksson was looking to the Belgian to make a major impact and set the Blues off on a cup run. It didn't happen.
Mpenza wasn't the only City player to be off his game that day but he was the one who paid the price by dropping to the bench for the game at Derby three days later, with Sturridge and Etuhu promoted.
Served
Benjani's arrival shortly afterwards only served to push Mpenza further down the pecking order. It's all a far cry from this time 12 months ago, when Mpenza was making himself a City hero after a couple of vital goals in the battle against relegation, and the fans were calling on then-manager Stuart Pearce to sign him up on a long-term deal.
Mpenza's pace, power and eye for goal proved key to successive victories at Middlesbrough and Newcastle, wins which went a long way to pulling City to safety, although ultimately not enough to save Pearce's job.
The sight of the striker racing clear of the Newcastle defence to confidently slot home the winner in that 1-0 victory at St James' Park suggested that the Blues had unearthed a long-term answer to their goalscoring problems.
As it turned out, that was to be just about as good as it got for him.
And now it seems the striker is pretty much back to where he was when he first arrived at Eastlands from Qatar on a six-month deal in January last year.
Back then, he was looking to regain his place in the Belgium side and return to the heights of his days playing in the Champions League with German club Schalke.
And, nearly 18 months on, Mpenza is once again in a position where he has something to prove.
It is commendable that he believes he can do that with City. But given Eriksson's record for shipping out strikers during his time at Eastlands, it's debatable as to whether Emile Mpenza will get another chance to win back a first-team place.
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