Enzo Maresca's opening months as Manchester City manager have followed a strikingly similar path to Pep Guardiola's first season, but the Italian does not have the same recruitment advantage his predecessor once enjoyed.
Maresca knew the comparisons would come when he took the job. Speaking to reporters in Seoul this summer, he acknowledged that results after ten games would inevitably be measured against Guardiola's record. "It's something that I know – after 10 games, if we've got 10 points, 20 points, 30 points. People will be comparing it to Pep after 10 games," he said. "But it's something – it is what it is. It doesn't put pressure on me."
Similar starts, different circumstances
Guardiola won his first six league games, went winless in the next three, and then won the tenth. Maresca won his first seven before losing the next three, leaving him two points worse off at the same stage. Both endured a perfect start that masked underlying issues, from big derby wins to worrying away collapses.
For Maresca, the situation is not beyond repair. He is only months into his tenure, and the problems are not so deep that they cannot be fixed. The key difference lies in recruitment.
No 2017-style rebuild available
Guardiola's first year was spent working out which players could be part of the project. The 2017 summer window proved transformative, with a large chunk of the squad offloaded and key signings such as Bernardo Silva, Ederson, and Kyle Walker brought in. That upgrade turned City into one of the best sides English football has seen.
Maresca does not have that option. City have already had their version of that window. Players signed in the last two years who were not seen as part of the future, including Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, and Tijjani Reijnders, have been sold to fund a mammoth spend on new signings expected to form the bedrock of Maresca's team.
From record buys Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez to Iliman Ndiaye and Ayyoub Bouaddi, the 2026 window has been City's attempt to replicate 2017. Even if their 115 appeal succeeds, it is highly unlikely they can rip up the squad again next summer if things do not work.
Making do with the current squad
That leaves Maresca to make things work with what he has, using the coming week to find solutions with his current players rather than looking to extra signings. There are signs from the opening months that he can, and City would not have hired him otherwise, but the biggest contrast to Guardiola is that Maresca cannot rely on future recruitment as a trump card for his system.
