Top News

The Enzo Maresca era is under way, and Manchester City's new manager has a huge role to take on.

It is over to Enzo now. For the first time in 10 years, Manchester City are beginning a season without Pep Guardiola at the helm.

The Catalan brought 20 trophies in a decade – an extraordinary return – but he will be remembered just as much for the brilliant football his sides produced so regularly. Those are enormous boots to fill.

Fortunately for City, Enzo Maresca looks a natural fit, having already spent two separate spells on Guardiola's coaching staff.

The Italian was even credited with proposing some of City's most important tactical adjustments during his time as Pep's assistant, including John Stones stepping into midfield in the 2022-23 treble-winning campaign.

More significantly, Maresca has direct experience of winning major honours with a Premier League heavyweight. During a largely successful 18-month spell in charge of Chelsea, he won the 2025 UEFA Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup, despite numerous off-field problems.

At City, he takes over a much more settled squad, one packed not only with top-class ability but also promise: Nico O'Reilly, Abdukodir Khusanov and Rayan Cherki are 21 or 22, while £116m signing Elliot Anderson is 23. However, the experience of Bernardo Silva and Stones is no longer there.

Such were the standards Guardiola established that last season's domestic cup double still felt like a slightly flat farewell, with the league title surrendered to Arsenal. Maresca's job now is to restore City to the top of English football.

Back in 1998, Enzo Maresca arrived at West Bromwich Albion as a teenage midfielder who had “no grasp of the English language”. Years later, he has won trophies as a manager with Leicester and Chelsea. But succeeding Guardiola after such a long reign is an entirely different test.

Erling Haaland has scored 162 goals in only 198 appearances for Manchester City, and may well be the most feared centre-forward in world football right now. The Norwegian is a phenomenon, blending elite finishing with aggression, strength, speed and personality in abundance.

PREMIER LEAGUE: 2nd

FA CUP: Winners

LEAGUE CUP: Winners

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Last 16

Erling Haaland struck 38 goals in all competitions last season and claimed the Premier League Golden Boot.

Since arriving in the league, only the recently departed Mohamed Salah has managed to take a Golden Boot away from the Norwegian.

As the cliché says, Premier League titles are not won before Christmas, but they can certainly be lost. Four defeats in City's opening 12 matches – including another loss to Spurs for the 10th time under Guardiola (how?) – allowed Arsenal to build a lead that proved impossible to reel in.

Pep's side came to life in the spring, going 15 matches unbeaten up to the final day, but it still was not enough.

Slow starts followed by outstanding recoveries had become a pattern in Guardiola's later years at the Etihad. But without the magic of Kevin De Bruyne, who always seemed to relish the spring more than anyone else, they came up short. A fast start would do Maresca plenty of good.

Try not to watch their team-mates' holiday slideshows: Phil Foden and Gianluigi Donnarumma. The pair were among the few City players who did not go to the World Cup – the club had more representatives than any other side, with 17 in total.

One thing to keep an eye on is the outcome of the 115 charges of alleged FFP breaches, even though the independent hearing concluded in December 2024.

Last season was more than respectable in the end. Winning two trophies and taking the title race to the final week would not have seemed likely in late January. And at least Arsenal wrapping it up before the final day meant we could give Pep, John Stones and Bernardo Silva a proper send-off.

This season will be different because we will never have it this good again – but with a new squad, we are in a far stronger position for succession than Manchester United were after Alex Ferguson.

Our key player will be Rodri. We are not the same side without him.

The active player I'd love to have back is Morgan Rogers.

The one change I'd make at our club would be to bring in new season tickets – not flexi-tickets – for supporters on the waiting list, and to scrap the draconian 10-match ‘personal attendance' rule for season ticket holders. Sadly, many Blues lost their STs last season because of difficult personal circumstances.

Look out for 18-year-old Ryan McAidoo, a tricky winger with a low centre of gravity. He scored on his debut in the FA Cup and could stake a claim on the pre-season tour, with so many players missing from it.

The pantomime villain will be Howard Webb, if he cannot get a grip on the Premier League's fixation with set pieces. Most fans feel the same: the prominence of the ‘meat wall' in the opposition box, and the timewasting that follows, is tragic.

We'll finish 2nd.

AUGUST

23 Bournemouth (H)

29 Crystal Palace (A)

SEPTEMBER

5 Coventry (H)

12 Man United (A)

19 Sunderland (H)

OCTOBER

10 Liverpool (A)

17 Ipswich (H)

24 Aston Villa (A)

31 Brighton (H)

NOVEMBER

7 Nott'm Forest (A)

21 Fulham (H)

28 Arsenal (A)

DECEMBER

2 Leeds (H)

5 Brentford (A)

12 Chelsea (H)

19 Hull City (H)

26 Newcastle (A)

30 Everton (A)

JANUARY

2 Tottenham (H)

6 Leeds (A)

16 Nott'm Forest (H)

23 Brighton (A)

30 Arsenal (H)

FEBRUARY

6 Fulham (A)

10 Tottenham (A)

20 Newcastle (H)

27 Hull City (A)

MARCH

3 Everton (H)

13 Coventry (A)

20 Man United (H)

APRIL

10 Bournemouth (A)

17 Crystal Palace (H)

24 Chelsea (A)

MAY

1 Brentford (H)

8 Liverpool (H)

15 Ipswich (A)

23 Aston Villa (H)

30 Sunderland (A)

Manchester City to win the Premier League title odds: 3/1

FourFourTwo verdict: Manchester City to finish 2nd.

Concerns about the reality of life after Pep are balanced by a squad with hardly any weaknesses. A bit of tactical experimentation could bring a slow start before a powerful recovery – which would be a fitting tribute.

This feature was written in June as part of FourFourTwo magazine's legendary Season Preview issue.