Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca vows to replace departed Rodri
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has vowed to find a replacement for Rodri following the midfielder’s £65m transfer to Barcelona.
The Spain captain recently ended a highly successful seven-year spell at Etihad Stadium by signing a four-year contract with the La Liga champions.
“How do we solve that problem?” asked Maresca. “We try to find the new Rodri, it is what it is.”
During his time in England, the 30-year-old established himself as one of the finest operators in world football.
The former Atletico Madrid man claimed the 2024 Ballon d’Or and scored the decisive goal in the 2023 Champions League final.
City’s track record of replacing legends
Finding a successor for the recent World Cup winner is a daunting task, but the City boss remains optimistic.
The manager pointed to the club’s successful history of seamlessly replacing iconic figures over the past decade.
“I was thinking on Thursday night, when David Silva was here, everyone was worried and Kevin [De Bruyne] arrived,” Maresca added.
“When Sergio [Aguero] was here, everyone was worried [when he was going to leave] and Erling [Haaland] arrived. Fernandinho? Rodri arrived.”
“When they leave, you need to be good in recruiting the next one.”
Late transfer window business
The reigning English champions are expected to be highly active in the final 10 days of the current transfer window.
A club-record £115m deal has already been completed to bring England international Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.
Negotiations are also progressing for Lille prospect Ayyoub Bouaddi, while Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez remains a potential target.
Several departures are also anticipated before the deadline, with Tottenham agreeing a £75m fee for Brazilian winger Savinho.
Spurs are concurrently locked in talks to acquire versatile forward Omar Marmoush from the Manchester outfit.
“It doesn’t help that there are players that for different reasons want to leave, that is for sure, but we need to adapt and also we don’t want to keep players here who don’t want to stay,” Maresca concluded.