Maresca has made some bid additions to his City side
Maresca has made some bid additions to his City side
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Manchester City, Enzo Maresca and all the other Premier League clubs can park the transfer window for a few months. No more talk of what’s needed, who’s going, net spend and football finances.
The squads are set and attention now turns to what happens on the pitch. City have made the perfect start to Maresca’s reign with two wins from two to sit top of the early-season table ahead of the visit of Coventry this weekend.
City may be a little light in some areas and the depth could hamper their ability to fight on all fronts, but the Blues have enough options to field a first XI capable of competing with the best teams at home and abroad. Indeed it’s an XI that isn’t straightforward to select given the quality options available in some areas of the pitch.
There are a few certainties, with Gianluigi Donnarumma and Erling Haaland undisputed first choices at either end of the pitch. The £240m midfield pair of Enzo Fernandez and Elliot Anderson will be trusted with making City tick while Ruben Dias is captain and therefore will start at centre back.
Alongside him Marc Guehi looks the best partner with his leadership, ability to step into midfield and positioning key attributes.
You’d expect Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly to be first-choice full-backs even though the latter has played in midfield thus far and the former isn’t quite as suited to Maresca’s defensive shape as he was Pep Guardiola’s.
That leaves Josko Gvardiol, an option on the left or in the middle of the back four, out of the side along with Abdukodir Khusanov. Both have started the opening two games of the campaign.
Further forward and City have significant strength with Antoine Semenyo and Jeremy Doku perhaps the first choice wide pair but new £60m signing Iliman Ndiaye will have something to say about that.
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And at No.10 Rayan Cherki has enjoyed a sensational start to the season with two assists off the bench against Bournemouth and then two goals at Crystal Palace. Phil Foden, another who has started both league games so far, looks second choice in his favoured position just now.
Ayyoub Bouaddi cost £81m to bring in this summer but Maresca and City are keen not to pile too much on the youngster's plate, even though there is a belief internally that he has the mentality to cope with the pressure of playing for City and the ability to handle the Premier League.
Further depth will be provided by keepers Geronimo Rulli and Marcus Bettinelli, Vitor Reis, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rico Lewis at the back and Mateo Kovacic in midfield.
It’s a small but significant squad and the first XI is packed with the potential to be in the mix for silverware.
City’s first-choice XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Guehi, O’Reilly; Anderson, Fernandez, Cherki; Semenyo, Doku, Haaland.