Maresca's Challenge: Replacing Rodri at Manchester City

Enzo Maresca has barely settled into the Manchester City dugout and already faces the question that will stalk his first season: how do you replace Rodri?

The Italian did not duck it. He went straight at it.

“I'll try to find a new Rodri – it is what it is,” he said, as City prepare to begin their Premier League title defence against Bournemouth on Sunday.

Rodri’s move to Barcelona this week closed a monumental seven-year chapter at the Etihad Stadium. In that time, the Spaniard became the beating heart of Pep Guardiola’s side, lifting four Premier League titles and the Champions League, and collecting both a World Cup winner’s medal and the Ballon d'Or along the way.

Now he’s gone. And the hole he leaves is enormous.

Maresca, though, framed it as part of City’s evolution rather than the beginning of a decline.

“Rodri, before he arrived here, he didn't win the Ballon d'Or, he didn't win the Champions League, he didn't win the Club World Cup,” he pointed out. “Then he joined the club and then after he achieved many important things. Now the target for us is to try to find the new Rodri.”

This is the City model in a sentence: identify, develop, dominate, replace.

Maresca reeled off the recent history to make his point. When David Silva left, the panic was loud; Kevin De Bruyne grew into the void. When Sergio Aguero departed, the same anxiety; Erling Haaland arrived and tore up scoring records. When Fernandinho moved on, Rodri stepped in.

“When they leave, you need to be good and recruit the next one,” Maresca said. The message was clear: the club has walked this tightrope before.

This summer, though, the rebuild feels bigger than a single position.

Rodri is one of several heavyweight exits. Bernardo Silva has gone. John Stones and Nathan Ake have left. Tijjani Reijnders is also out. Savinho is on his way to Tottenham, potentially with Omar Marmoush, while Nico Gonzalez could follow them out of the door before the window shuts.

That is the core of a title-winning squad stripped back in one window. It is not a gentle refresh. It is surgery.

So far, only one major signing has walked through the door: midfielder Elliot Anderson. For a club used to precise, well-timed reinforcement, it looks light.

Maresca, though, refused to sound alarmed.

“Hopefully we can do the things that we need to do,” he said. He admitted the churn has made life harder. “It doesn't help that there are players that for different reasons want to leave, this is for sure. But we need to adapt and we don't want to keep players here that don't want to stay.”

The market, as ever, is a waiting game. City are not immune to that.

“The normal thing in transfer windows is that you have to wait because all the clubs try to keep players until the last week and then sell for more money,” Maresca said. “It's normal, I'm not worried about that. When the transfer window closes and we have all the squad there, for sure it will be different.”

For now, he walks into the opening weekend knowing he must launch a title defence with a squad in flux and the most influential midfielder in the league now wearing Barcelona colours.

City have solved these puzzles before. The difference this time? Maresca has to prove he can do it without Guardiola standing in front of him.