Enzo Maresca has said that everybody at Manchester City knows they are part of a new era after an astonishing summer in which the club completed more than £700m worth of transfers.
The Blues spent more than £400m to bring in several new first-team stars, including three midfielders, while also raising more than £300m in sales as a number of players were allowed to leave.
Although Maresca was seen as a continuity candidate who could carry on the footballing philosophy honed by Pep Guardiola over a decade of success, it is a completely new cast that has been tasked with following on. So much disruption would normally lower expectations, but both internally and externally Maresca is expected to challenge for every competition.
Strong start to the season
The former Chelsea coach has been helped by two wins from his opening two games, and a victory over newly-promoted Coventry City on Saturday would extend their perfect start in the Premier League.
Recent signings Iliman Ndiaye, Enzo Fernandez and Allan will all be available for the game, while Ayyoub Bouaddi and Elliot Anderson have already made their debuts.
Focus on improvement
Maresca is expecting City to get better with time as the summer signings bed in and the squad get used to his ideas, but he believes the level of change has helped the club to move on.
"The club is aware, the players are aware, and the coaching staff are aware that it is the beginning of a new project - something new," Maresca said. "The most important thing when you start something is that you can see the team is better in October than September and November than October. It's what we need."
"I can see now that it is our team. The main target for me is to see how the players improve day after day, game after game. That is the most important thing. It's something we have done in the last games but it's just the beginning of the Premier League and we have many more games that we need to do the right things."
