Photo: The White House / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
Enzo Maresca has acknowledged Manchester City need to strengthen this transfer window, warning that the squad's summer departures have left gaps that must be filled before the new Premier League season begins.
Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Nathan Ake have all left the club, while incoming business so far has been limited to Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest, winger Jeremy Monga from Leicester City and returning Academy graduate Pierce Charles from Sheffield Wednesday.
"Fortunately this is a squad that doesn't need to do many things," Maresca told reporters at a press conference ahead of Wednesday's pre-season clash with K-League All Stars in Seoul. "At the same time, we already know the squad lost some important players with experience with Bernardo, John, Nathan… different players. For sure, there are things we need to do."
Maresca said the club's leadership is in daily contact over potential signings. "Hugo [Viana, Sporting Director] is here. Also Ferran [Soriano, CEO] is here. We just try to speak day by day to see if we need to do something. We are in communication every day."
The City manager framed the urgency around the open window itself. "The reason I said there are things to do is because the transfer window is open and when it is open, anything can happen. It is August and then from September, when it's closed, it is completely different."
City face the Community Shield against Arsenal in less than a fortnight, with their Premier League opener at home to Bournemouth to follow the subsequent weekend.
Maresca also confirmed midfielder Ryan McAidoo will miss the K-League All Stars fixture due to a minor shoulder problem sustained after an impressive cameo in the 1-1 draw with Inter Milan. "McAidoo was good but unfortunately he will be out tomorrow because he has a small problem with his shoulder — nothing important," Maresca said.
The head coach, in charge for just over a month, said pre-season work is beginning to take shape. "The way we want to defend and attack with some patterns — it's a different idea we started to work on since I joined the club. We want to try to win games, that is the main thing, but at the same moment we want to see the team improving day after day."