Enzo Maresca has succeeded Pep Guardiola as Manchester City manager after 10 years in which Guardiola claimed 20 titles – and the first question he must answer is how he follows that act. The margin of the challenge was drawn in stark relief on the final day: City finished seven points behind champions Arsenal after a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth handed the crown to Mikel Arteta's side.
Maresca was at Guardiola's side for the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in 2022-23, one calling card for the players he must convince. Another is leading City's elite development squad to the Premier League 2 title in 2020-21, then taking Leicester into the Premier League in 2024, before winning the Conference League with Chelsea in 2025 and the Club World Cup that summer with a 3-0 defeat of Luis Enrique's Paris Saint-Germain in the final.
“Enzo Maresca must step from Pep Guardiola's shadow after City finished seven points behind Arsenal”
But the past must yield to the present, and Rodri – the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner – is offering mixed messages on his future. “I know exactly where I stand, and I'll tell you that perhaps if there hadn't been a World Cup, things might be different now,” the 29-year-old Spaniard has said. He is trying to regain form after a serious knee injury in September 2024 and subsequent setbacks. A sale could offset the cost of his likely replacement: Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson, on the verge of signing for £116m. The 23-year-old is a vital midfielder for Thomas Tuchel's England World Cup campaign.
Closing the gap to Arsenal will require Maresca to overhaul a side that boasted the league's best defence. David Raya kept 19 clean sheets and won his third straight Golden Glove, one shy of Petr Čech and Joe Hart's record, with game-defining interventions against Brighton, at Stamford Bridge and a smothering save from Mateus Fernandes against West Ham. Gabriel Magalhães made 32 appearances with 17 clean sheets as Arsenal conceded 27 league goals – their best defensive record since the Invincibles won the title in 2003-04. He contributed three goals and four assists, while his centre-back partner William Saliba was dribbled past only seven times, the third-fewest in the league.
Maresca’s biggest problem is obvious: how to create a team that not only matches that defensive solidity but finds the scoring options Guardiola’s sides always had. The new manager must cast off his mentor’s shadow and earn true backing from the hierarchy – starting on the pitch.