Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca spoke about his new-look team after a drastic summer in the transfer window
Manchester City's manager Enzo Maresca applauds fans as he comes out for his first home game
Enzo Maresca
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Enzo Maresca says that everybody at Manchester City knows they are part of a new era after an astonishing summer with more than £700m worth of transfers. The Blues spent more than £400m to bring in several new first team stars including three midfielders, but also ruthlessly said goodbye to a number of players as they raised more than £300m in sales.
To say Maresca was a continuity candidate who could carry on the footballing philosophy that was honed by Pep Guardiola over a glorious decade of success, it is a completely new cast that has been tasked with following on. So much disruption would normally lower expectations, but both internally and externally Maresca is expected to challenge for every competition.
The former Chelsea coach has been helped by two wins from his opening two games and a victory over newly-promoted Coventry City on Saturday will extend their perfect start in the Premier League. Recent signings Iliman Ndiaye, Enzo Fernandez and Allan will all be available for the game, while Ayyoub Bouaddi and Elliot Anderson have already made their debuts.
Maresca is expecting City to get better with time as the summer signings bed in and the squad get used to his ideas, but believes the level of change has helped the club to move on.
"The club is aware, the players are aware, and the coaching staff are aware that it is the beginning of a new project - something new," Maresca said. "The most important thing when you start something is that you can see the team is better in October than September and November than October. It's what we need.
"I can see now that it is our team. The main target for me is to see how the players improve day after day, game after game. That is the most important. thing. it's something we have done in the last games but it's just the beginning of the Premier League and we have many more games that we need to do the right things."