The Calm Before the Clear-Out
You would forgive the average City supporter for checking the transfer feed twice this week. The outgoing tray at the Etihad has been anything but empty, with Rodri and Tijjani Reijnders already through the exit door and Savinho on the brink of joining Tottenham. Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzalez are widely expected to follow before the window slams shut.
It has made for a restless few days among the fanbase, to put it mildly.
Yet Enzo Maresca, addressing the media ahead of the opening Premier League fixture against Bournemouth, struck a notably serene tone. Asked whether the flurry of departures had unsettled his planning, the City manager waved the question away.
“No, I’m not worried or concerned. Since day one we’ve known exactly what we need and we are working together with the Sporting Director and the club. It’s 11 days to go and many things can happen.”
The message is consistent with what he has said all summer: there is a plan, and the club knows precisely what it has to do before the deadline. Whether that translates into incoming business will become clear soon enough.
A Summer Stretched Thin
Part of the explanation for the slow-burn window lies in the calendar. The World Cup and the holidays that followed have stretched City’s timeline for recruitment, pushing decisions later than usual.
Maresca has also been keen to see his squad in action during preseason before committing to a definitive shopping list. That approach has already shaped the clear-out, with several fringe players moving on or set to do so after the tour of Asia.
On numbers, the manager refused to be pinned down. No minimum, no maximum.
“We don’t have minimum or maximum number. Depends a little bit. I said after the last game if we win or lose games we are not going to change our perspective to change our idea of how many we need. We know exactly what we need and how many we need and then we will see.”
So the club waits, the window creaks, and Maresca keeps his counsel. Eleven days is a long time in a transfer market, particularly one that has already surrendered so many familiar faces.