Manchester City head coach Enzo Maresca faces one of his first major selection dilemmas of the season as Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye push for their first appearances in club colours when newly-promoted Coventry City visit the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
City’s frantic deadline-day business saw them commit close to £190m to the pair of midfielders. Fernandez arriving from Chelsea for a fee that equals the British transfer record of £125m, while Ndiaye had earlier completed a move from Everton worth up to £65m.
Both are fit, registered and available for Maresca to call upon, according to the Standard.
The scale of City’s summer spending — which also stretched to Ayyoub Bouaddi’s arrival from Lens — has left Maresca with a squad far removed from the one he inherited when he succeeded Pep Guardiola in the close season.
It marks City’s first campaign without Guardiola in the dugout since 2015-16, and after two wins from two league games, the Italian is under pressure to blend his new signings without disrupting an encouraging start.
Selection headache in midfield as Guehi experiment set to end
Rico Lewis and Abdukodir Khusanov have both been used across the back line in pre-match training, but Khusanov is expected to keep his place at right-back.
Marc Guehi likely to partner captain Ruben Dias in central defence rather than continuing in the makeshift holding-midfield role he filled during the win over Bournemouth.
Fernandez is understood to be in line to start immediately, stepping into a midfield reshaped by the summer sales of Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Tijjani Reijnders.
Ndiaye and Bouaddi may have to be content with places among the substitutes given the competition for attacking berths.
Rayan Cherki, who scored twice in City’s 4-1 win at Crystal Palace last time out, is expected to retain his role behind the front line, meaning Phil Foden and Antoine Semenyo could once again be asked to operate from wide areas.
Manchester City injury news ahead of the match
Maresca could be without some of his top talents with Jeremy Doku (calf) and Matheus Nunes (fitness) the only confirmed absentees.
Doku’s absence continues a frustrating start to the season for the Belgian winger, who picked up a calf problem during City’s Community Shield defeat by Arsenal, while Nunes remains a doubt having struggled for full fitness in recent weeks.
Fernandez: “He is a top manager, honestly”
Ahead of his first involvement, Fernandez spoke of his excitement at linking up again with Maresca, who managed him during a trophy-laden spell together at Chelsea, telling the club’s media:
“He is a top manager, honestly. I had him at my previous club. They were incredible moments. I learned so much with him.”
The Argentina international added: “He’s very similar to Latin people, very passionate. So, for me, it’s a pleasure to work with him. I’m also grateful because he was very important in bringing me here.”
That reunion, and the presence of Ndiaye, Bouaddi and Elliot Anderson alongside him, gives Maresca options he simply did not have when the season began, but it also raises the stakes.
Having overseen four different midfielders in makeshift roles already this season, the head coach must now decide how quickly to trust his record signing with a starting shirt, and whether doing so risks unsettling a Cherki-Foden-Semenyo trio that clicked so effectively at Selhurst Park.
