Maresca Faces Transfer Window Pressure at Manchester City

Enzo Maresca is braced for a frantic finish to the transfer window, but one thing is already clear: Manchester City will not be dancing to Chelsea’s tune over Enzo Fernández.

Chelsea set a 5pm Friday deadline for clubs to meet their £120m valuation of the Argentina midfielder. City, intrigued by the idea of reuniting Maresca with a player he worked with at Stamford Bridge, have decided that clock will run out without them.

Trophy on the line, squad in flux

Maresca’s first serious test as City manager arrives on Sunday in Cardiff, where his side face Arsenal in the Community Shield. It is a showcase occasion, his first final with the club, yet he heads into it with a squad still very much under construction.

“Not today to be honest, I don’t think we’re going to do something today,” he said when asked about business before Chelsea’s cut-off. “For sure there are things we need to do, how many I don’t know, can be one can be two depends also if players want to leave so we can see.

“It’s 48 hours for the final, my first final in this club, I would like to win my first trophy, so my focus isn’t on players that can leave or players that can arrive, my focus is on the game.”

Behind that message, the moving parts are obvious. City are close to signing 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille, a nod to the club’s long-term planning even as immediate questions swirl around the spine of Maresca’s team.

Rodri wanted, Reijnders on his way

At the heart of it all stands Rodri. Or at least, City hope he still stands there when the window shuts.

Barcelona have already seen two bids rejected for the midfielder, who has a year left on his contract. A third offer is expected, and the Catalan club are not hiding their desire to prise away one of City’s most influential players.

For now, Rodri is back. He returned to the training ground on Friday after his post-World Cup break, greeted by a manager keen to keep the mood light while the market swirls around them.

“The transfer window is open, we can buy players, we can sell players, anything can happen,” Maresca said. “I just saw Rodri now in the building, I gave him a big hug, he looks good, so we’ll see what happens.”

One midfield departure is far closer to the line. Tijjani Reijnders is set to join Al-Qadsiah in the Saudi Pro League after the clubs agreed a £51m fee. The Dutchman arrived from Milan last summer but has pushed for a move in search of more regular football.

“They all work every day, they all do sessions every day and at the end of the week they all want to play a game,” Maresca said. “When they don’t play, they struggle to understand or they struggle to see the reason why and I can understand that after one season some of them would like to play a little bit more. It’s a normal situation.”

Fringe faces, hard decisions

Reijnders will not be the last squad player to test City’s resolve.

James Trafford has already gone, sold to Leeds. Omar Marmoush, Rico Lewis and Savinho, all on the margins during Pep Guardiola’s final season, are among those who could follow as the club trims and reshapes around Maresca’s ideas.

This is the tension of City’s summer: a new manager chasing his first piece of silverware while the club weighs up nine-figure pursuits, rejects bids for its metronome in midfield, and negotiates exits for those who want more minutes.

Maresca insists his eyes are on Arsenal and the chance to lift a trophy at the first attempt. The market, though, is not waiting for him. How much of this squad is still his by the time the window slams shut may say as much about City’s season as whatever happens in Cardiff on Sunday.