Maresca says Manchester City’s title hopes depend on having options

Enzo Maresca says Manchester City had to invest heavily in their squad this summer to compete with Arsenal for the Premier League title, after a £450m rebuild produced its latest additions in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Coventry.

Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye made their first appearances for City after completing their moves on the final day of the transfer window. Their arrivals represented the final stage of an overhaul that has taken the club’s summer spending beyond £450m.

Maresca defended that expenditure after the victory, saying he had been closely monitoring Arsenal’s start to the campaign and the depth available to their title rivals.

“If you look from the Community Shield match, you will find that Arsenal have played two additional matches and had five changes in their line-up in each game,” the Manchester City manager said, according to ESPN.

“They have two World Cup champions in Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi, England internationals in Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke, and I cannot remember the fifth player exactly, but I think it was Piero Hincapie.

“In the end, if you want to compete for major trophies, you need different options. Arsenal have options, we have options, and other clubs have them as well, so it is not only about us. I am very happy with the options available to us, and that is crucial if you want to compete.”

Fernandez, who joined City in a club-record £125m deal on the final day of the transfer window, was initially named among the substitutes. He was brought on before kick-off after Nico O’Reilly suffered an injury during the warm-up.

Ndiaye started on the left, while Ayoub Bouaddi came on as a second-half substitute.

Despite the attention surrounding City’s latest signings, another summer recruit, Elliot Anderson, emerged as the standout performer at the Coventry Building Society Arena. Anderson was named player of the match after completing more passes than Coventry managed as a team.

Maresca was particularly pleased with the midfielder’s contribution, but stressed that Anderson’s display was part of a wider run of impressive performances.

“I am extremely impressed with his performance, and not only today; he was excellent against Crystal Palace, and he was also very good against Bournemouth, despite joining us only one week earlier and being taken off because of a muscular strain,” Maresca said.

The manager also praised Anderson’s attitude and willingness to learn, identifying those qualities as the most encouraging aspect of his start at the club.

“But the best thing about Elliot is his passion every day; he is always asking how he can improve, and we have individual video analysis sessions with him so that he can see how to improve his performance. That is the best impression any player can give,” he added.

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