---
title: "Man City News & Talking Points: Fernández ready, captains named & Maresca’s verdict"
canonical: "https://readmancity.com/2026/09/04/man-city-news-fernandez-captains-maresca-september-4/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Gary Gowers"
section: "Man City News"
published: "2026-09-04T17:30:00Z"
modified: "2026-09-22T18:50:37Z"
---

# Man City News & Talking Points: Fernández ready, captains named & Maresca’s verdict

**The transfer window is closed, the new arrivals are through the door and Enzo Maresca sounds pretty happy with what he has been given.**

[City](https://readmancity.com/) have spent the week putting the finishing touches to a dramatically reshaped squad, with Enzo Fernández and [Iliman Ndiaye](https://readmancity.com/2026/09/02/iliman-ndiaye-fpl-price-man-city/) among the final additions.

Today, attention finally began to turn towards what Maresca intends to do with them. Fernández is ready for Coventry, the manager has completed his four-man captaincy group and Matheus Nunes is back available.

Here are today’s main City stories and talking points.

## Maresca says his City squad is complete

Perhaps the most important message from Maresca’s press conference was also one of the simplest. He’s happy.

After an extraordinary summer of spending and squad rebuilding, the City boss thanked the ownership, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and director of football Hugo Viana for their work.

“Now the squad is complete,” Maresca said.

“It’s finished. And now it’s time to work.”

That is quite a statement after the scale of City’s summer overhaul. Maresca has been given a very different group from the one he inherited and, after two Premier League wins from two, there is already plenty of competition for places.

Tomorrow against Coventry should give us another glimpse of how he intends to put it all together.

## City players wanted Fernández too

One of the more interesting moments of the press conference concerned Enzo Fernández. Maresca confirmed the £125m signing is ready to face Coventry and could therefore make his City debut at the Etihad.

But the dressing-room reaction was arguably even more revealing. [Maresca revealed that several City players had been asking whether Fernández was coming](https://readmancity.com/) during the final days of the window because they wanted him at the club.

The manager knows Fernández well from their time together at Chelsea and described the Argentina international as a “winner”. City have invested an enormous amount of money in the 25-year-old.

It appears the dressing room was pretty keen on the idea too.

## Four captains confirmed

Maresca has also completed the leadership group he deliberately left unfinished earlier in the summer. [Rúben Dias, Erling Haaland, Marc Guéhi and Gianluigi Donnarumma are City’s four captains](https://readmancity.com/2026/09/04/man-city-captains-maresca-dias-haaland-guehi-donnarumma/).

Dias and Haaland had already been selected, with Maresca waiting until the transfer window had closed before adding the final two names. Guéhi captained Crystal Palace before moving to City, while Donnarumma captains Italy.

After losing several experienced players during the summer, Maresca wanted additional leadership in his new-look squad. He now has his four.

## Maresca identifies another option for Haaland

There was an interesting tactical clue too. [Omar Marmoush](https://readmancity.com/2026/08/21/omar-marmoush-tottenham-terms-man-city-transfer/)‘s loan move to Tottenham left Haaland as City’s only recognised senior centre-forward.

Maresca, however, does not appear overly concerned. Asked about his options through the middle, the City boss said he has several possibilities depending on the game plan and specifically confirmed that [Antoine Semenyo can play there](https://readmancity.com/).

Semenyo has predominantly operated out wide since arriving from Bournemouth, but his versatility could become increasingly useful.

Iliman Ndiaye’s arrival gives Maresca another wide attacking option too. Nobody is displacing Haaland as the first-choice No.9 anytime soon. But we now know one of the alternatives Maresca has in mind.

## Nunes returns but Doku remains out

There was good news and bad news on the injury front. [Matheus Nunes is back and available against Coventry](https://readmancity.com/) after missing the victory at Crystal Palace.

Maresca had previously said the Portugal international was not yet 100 per cent fit. Jérémy Doku remains sidelined. The Belgian has not featured since the Community Shield and will again be unavailable tomorrow.

With the Champions League approaching and the fixture list about to become considerably busier, getting Nunes back is useful timing.

## New boys give Maresca plenty to think about

Fernández isn’t the only new arrival who could be involved tomorrow. Iliman Ndiaye and Allan Elias are also in contention, leaving Maresca with some fascinating selection decisions after a start to the season which has hardly demanded wholesale changes.

City beat Bournemouth 2-1 before winning 4-1 at Crystal Palace. Six points. Six goals. And now Maresca has even more options.

It’s not a bad position to be in.

## Coventry next as City look for three from three

And finally, the football.

[City host Coventry at the Etihad tomorrow](https://readmancity.com/2026/09/04/man-city-coventry-team-news-how-to-watch/) looking to maintain their perfect Premier League record. Frank Lampard’s newly-promoted side have lost their opening two matches against Arsenal and Hull without scoring.

City will therefore be expected to win. Maresca, understandably, was having none of that sort of talk. He warned that these are the games in which City need to be fully focused, or they can become “tricky”.

City have had an extraordinary few weeks: a new manager, two league victories and a transfer window which has transformed the squad.

Tomorrow is considerably less glamorous. It’s also worth three points. The window is over. Maresca has the squad he wanted.

Now, as the manager himself put it, it’s time to work.

*For updates on City throughout the season, take a look at our [LIVE! Premier League 2026/27 News, Transfers, Updates & Viral Moments](https://dave.sport/live/premier-league-2026-2027-season-updates/) page.*