Maresca gives lukewarm response when asked about future of unsettled players

Enzo Maresca has given his first public comments on where two unsettled City players stand — and his answers won’t offer much comfort to either.

Mateo Kovacic lined up against his former club during Saturday’s Inter Milan defeat, but his long-term future remains unresolved.

Asked directly about it, Maresca stopped short of any real commitment, carefully framing the Croatian’s future role in present-tense terms: while Kovacic is a City player, he’ll be treated as one.

Beyond that, nothing was ruled in or out.

The response about Jack Grealish was shorter still.

“I didn’t speak with Jack since we are here,” Maresca said, before adding that the situation mirrors Kovacic’s — Grealish remains a City player for now, and will train with the squad once fit, and the group is back in Manchester.

Grealish spent last season on loan at Everton, scoring twice and providing six assists before a foot injury cut his campaign short.

He wasn’t included in Maresca’s touring squad for the Asia trip as he continues his recovery, and with just a year left on his contract, the lack of contact from his new manager may raise eyebrows among supporters hoping for some clarity.

For Evertonians, it will likely be music to their ears.

Neither situation sounds close to resolution. Maresca’s language — helpful in the moment, non-committal on anything beyond — suggests both are being left open rather than settled, with decisions likely pushed back until the group reconvenes in Manchester.

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[Source: Hayters TV, via Maresca’s post-match press conference]