Enzo Maresca has told all of his Manchester City players that they have a fresh start under him. With Pep Guardiola having left after ten years at the Etihad, Maresca has said places are up for grabs as he takes a look at their skills with new eyes.
Players face uncertain futures
A number of players who have gone out to Asia with the squad faced questions over their future at the club. Mateo Kovacic and Nico Gonzalez are among those who now believe they are staying with the club, and there could be more who stay and fight for a place under Maresca.
"The only thing I said since I started to the players is that it is a reset," he said. "All of them start at the same level and pre-season will dictate a little bit the transfer window. This has been a general message for all of them - the ones who played more minutes or less last year. For me, it's a reset."
Youngster yet to feature
Divine Mukasa is one of only a few players not to have had any minutes under Maresca in the two friendlies. The youngster has already made his City debut under Guardiola and went on loan to Leicester for the second half of the season but is yet to feature in games.
"Divine is a good player. The only problem is that we have so many players that we have already made many rotations and we struggled to find some minutes for him, for Floyd [Samba], for Xavi[er Parker]," said Maresca. "There are three or four players that didn't get minutes in the friendly game but are training with us every day and we can see the way they are improving. The only problem for them is the amount of players we have in this moment."
Asia tour continues
City arrived in Seoul on Tuesday and played the K-League All Stars at the World Cup Stadium on Wednesday evening, winning 3-1 with goals from Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Divin Mubama. The conditions were described as 'unbearable' by the players though and the extreme heat is expected to remain for Sunday's match with Atletico.
The Blues will fly straight home after the game, arriving back in Manchester after nearly two weeks in Asia before travelling down to Cardiff later in the week for the Community Shield against Arsenal. Seven days later, Bournemouth are the visitors to the Etihad as Enzo Maresca marks his first Premier League game as City boss with a home game.
