Enzo Maresca faces a formidable task as he takes over from Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, with the club having finished seven points behind Arsenal last season and losing key players this summer.
Guardiola left as City's greatest ever manager, but his greatest side is being broken up. John Stones and captain Bernardo Silva have departed, while Rodri is in the last year of his contract and subject to a £38.4m bid from Barcelona. The club have spent almost £700m in the last four transfer windows, including a £116m deal for Elliot Anderson, but the rebuilding job is unfinished.
Maresca, who was Guardiola's assistant during the treble campaign of 2022-23, returns to the Etihad after leaving Chelsea, where he took the club to fourth in his only full season and won the Club World Cup. He has called Guardiola the best manager of the last 20 or 25 years and noted the difficulties faced by Manchester United and Arsenal after the departures of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.
City have signed new contracts for Josko Gvardiol, Abdukodir Khusanov and Phil Foden, and have four quality centre-backs. However, the team that was too old in 2024-25 could look young now, and Maresca must decide how to use players like Nico O'Reilly and Erling Haaland, who scored 38 goals last season but did not finish in the top three of the club's player-of-the-year vote.