Maresca Prepares for Transfer Window Finale Amid Chelsea Deadline
Enzo Maresca is braced for a frantic finish to the transfer window – but not frantic enough to bow to Chelsea’s 5pm deadline for Enzo Fernández.
The new Manchester City head coach, preparing for his first major game in charge in Sunday’s Community Shield against Arsenal in Cardiff, made it clear that any move for the Argentina midfielder will not be rushed to fit Chelsea’s timetable. The London club have slapped a £120m valuation on Fernández and set an ultimatum: meet it by late Friday afternoon or walk away.
City are interested. Maresca knows the player well from their time together at Stamford Bridge. But timing, for now, is against it.
“Not today to be honest, I don’t think we’re going to do something today,” Maresca said. “For sure there are things we need to do, how many I don’t know, can be one can be two depends also if players want to leave so we can see.
“It’s 48 hours for the final, my first final in this club, I would like to win my first trophy, so my focus isn’t on players that can leave or players that can arrive, my focus is on the game.”
Transfers swirl around Maresca’s first final
While Maresca tries to lock in on Arsenal, the squad around him is anything but settled.
City are close to signing 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille, a move that fits the club’s long-term planning even as the senior dressing room shifts. At the same time, the champions have already turned down two bids from Barcelona for Rodri and are ready to cash in on Tijjani Reijnders.
Rodri, the heartbeat of City’s midfield and now into the final year of his contract, walked back into the training ground on Friday after his post-World Cup holiday. His return should be a boost before the Community Shield, yet his future hangs over the club with a third offer from Barcelona expected.
Maresca, though, refused to be drawn into any public negotiation.
“The transfer window is open, we can buy players, we can sell players, anything can happen,” he said. “I just saw Rodri now in the building, I gave him a big hug, he looks good, so we’ll see what happens.”
Reijnders, by contrast, is already heading for the exit. City have agreed a £51m fee with Saudi Pro League side Al-Qadsiah for the Dutch midfielder, who joined from Milan last summer but has pushed for more regular minutes.
Maresca recognises the frustration.
“They all work every day, they all do sessions every day and at the end of the week they all want to play a game,” he said. “When they don’t play, they struggle to understand or they struggle to see the reason why and I can understand that after one season some of them would like to play a little bit more. It’s a normal situation.”
City’s edges begin to fray
The churn does not stop there. James Trafford has already been sold to Leeds, trimming the goalkeeping department and underlining the shift from the Pep Guardiola era to Maresca’s reign.
Omar Marmoush, Rico Lewis and Savinho are among those whose futures are also uncertain. All three spent much of Guardiola’s final campaign on the fringes. All three could be moved on if the right offers arrive and City decide to refresh around the core of a title-winning squad.
So Maresca walks into his first final with a trophy on the line, a midfield talisman being courted by Barcelona, a £120m World Cup winner out of reach for now, and a squad in flux.
If this is the calm before the storm, what will the last days of the window look like once the Community Shield is out of the way?
