City’s summer rebuild is complete. Now Enzo Maresca has to work out how all the pieces fit together.
The City squad that emerged from the transfer window looks markedly different from the one Maresca inherited.
Enzo Fernández and Iliman Ndiaye were among the deadline-day arrivals, following Elliot Anderson, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Gerónimo Rulli and others into a reshaped first-team squad.
Plenty went the other way. Rodri, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Savinho, Omar Marmoush, Nico González, Tijjani Reijnders and Nathan Aké were among those to leave, while Jack Grealish returned to Everton on loan.
And yet City have started the Premier League season with two wins from two.
That makes what happens next particularly interesting. Maresca has new players to integrate but also several who have spent the opening fortnight giving him little reason to change things.
Winner: Rayan Cherki
Cherki could hardly have made a stronger case.
He came off the bench against Bournemouth and created both goals in the 2-1 comeback, then started at Crystal Palace and scored twice in a 4-1 win.
Ndiaye’s arrival gives Maresca another attacking option, but Cherki has four direct goal involvements from City’s opening two league games.
For now, that should be enough to keep him very close to the front of the queue.
Winner: Nico O’Reilly
For all the money spent this summer, O’Reilly has started both Premier League matches.
The 21-year-old was in the side against Bournemouth and kept his place at Palace, with Maresca already showing a willingness to use a fluid midfield.
Fernández and Bouaddi inevitably give him more players to contend with, while Marc Guéhi has also been used further forward.
But O’Reilly has one important thing in his favour: he’s already in the team.
His first two starts don’t guarantee anything, particularly in a squad this strong, but he has at least given Maresca a decision to make.
Under pressure: Mateo Kovačić
This is less about anything Kovačić has done wrong and more about what has happened around him.
The 32-year-old has come off the bench in both league games. Anderson and O’Reilly have started both, Fernández has now arrived from Chelsea and Bouaddi made his debut at Palace.
There will be plenty of football to go around and Kovačić’s experience will be useful.
Premier League starts may simply be harder to come by than they once were.
Winner: Elliot Anderson
Anderson’s first two games have rather justified City’s determination to sign him.
He started against Bournemouth and kept his place at Selhurst Park, giving him an early foothold in Maresca’s midfield before Fernández has even played.
The arrival of a £125million midfielder inevitably attracts attention, but transfer fees don’t pick the team.
Anderson has started both wins. Fernández now has to find his way into a side that is already functioning.
Under pressure: Jérémy Doku
There is an important caveat here.
Doku missed the opening two league matches through injury, not because Maresca left him out.
What has changed during his absence is the number of alternatives.
Semenyo has started twice, Cherki has forced his way into the side and Ndiaye has now arrived from Everton.
Doku offers something different, particularly when City need someone to attack a full-back one-on-one. He will get opportunities.
He just returns to a more crowded picture than the one he left.
Winner – for now: Antoine Semenyo
Semenyo is another who has made good use of the opening two matches.
He played the full 90 minutes against both Bournemouth and Palace and supplied the cross for Haaland’s opening goal at Selhurst Park.
There was always going to be competition for attacking places at City and Ndiaye’s arrival adds to it. Doku also has to return.
But Semenyo has started the season in possession of a shirt and, so far, has done nothing to give Maresca an obvious reason to take it away.
Where does Enzo Fernández fit?
This is the big one.
City have committed £125million to Fernández and handed him the No.17 shirt previously worn by Kevin De Bruyne. He also knows Maresca well from their time together at Chelsea.
Clearly, he hasn’t arrived to play a bit-part role.
Working out who makes way is less straightforward.
Anderson and O’Reilly have started both league games. Kovačić remains an option. Bouaddi has made his debut and Guéhi has already shown that Maresca is prepared to use him in midfield.
It may not even be a case of Fernández replacing one player.
Maresca’s first two selections have contained enough positional movement to suggest that City’s midfield could look different depending on the opposition.
For now, Fernández is the expensive new piece waiting to be fitted into a team that has won without him.
Maresca has some big calls to make
Two games are nowhere near enough to establish a season-long hierarchy.
They have, though, given us a first glimpse.
Cherki, Anderson, O’Reilly and Semenyo have all made encouraging starts. Kovačić has more players around him competing for minutes, while Doku will return from injury to find the attacking picture has changed.
And then there are Fernández and Ndiaye.
That’s the consequence of City’s summer spending. Maresca has depth almost everywhere, but he also has a lot of good footballers who won’t be particularly interested in being described as depth.
Picking the team might be considerably harder than buying it.
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