Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca spoke about Erling Haaland and other attacking options for the team
Manchester City's Italian manager Enzo Maresca smiles during a press conference at the Etihad Campus training ground in Manchester, north-west England, on October 19, 2026, the eve of their UEFA Champions League, league phase football match against AEK Athens. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca
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The sight of Erling Haaland limping off the pitch has raised one of the biggest concerns for Manchester City fans. One major downside of having the best striker in the world is that there isn't anybody who can come in and replicate his output.
Even more of a concern for manager Enzo Maresca, with last season's backup Omar Marmoush now on loan at Tottenham, the most natural option to step in for Haaland was Antoine Semenyo and he is now injured for eight weeks. City feared that could be an even worse injury, but it is still a lengthy chunk of time for the forward to be unavailable for.
Given Haaland remains a doubt for Tuesday's Champions League game against AEK Athens, much of Maresca's press conference before the game focused on alternatives. Phil Foden? Iliman Ndiaye? Rayan Cherki even?
Maresca has previously mentioned all of them as potential options, and used teenager Floyd Samba in that position for the Norwich game in the Carabao Cup last month. As Monday's press conference progressed though, Maresca kept returning to the same message.
"At the moment it's Erling so why do we need to think of a different nine? If something happen or we need a different nine, we'll see," he answered to one question. "For sure Phil can be one of the solutions - he played already in the past - but at the moment the No.9 is Erling," he said to another.
As much as Haaland may be advised to sit out the Champions League game in midweek, that absence would not be seen as significant enough for Maresca to talk more widely about other options in attack.
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