Manchester City did not make a £120m bid for Enzo Fernández before Chelsea’s 5pm deadline on Friday but Enzo Maresca still expects a busy end to the transfer window, as the club seek incomings and outgoings. Chelsea, meanwhile, now expect the Argentina midfielder to stay at Stamford Bridge.
Maresca takes charge of City for the first time in a major match on Sunday against Arsenal in Cardiff in the Community Shield but is a long way from finalising the squad he will have for the season. Fernández, who played under Maresca at Chelsea, remains a target for City, who could still test the water despite missing the deadline.
“For sure there are things we need to do, how many I don’t know, can be one, can be two, depends also if players want to leave, so we can see,” Maresca said on Friday, having suggested City would not agree to Chelsea’s demands. “It’s 48 hours for the final, my first final in this club, I would like to win my first trophy, so my focus isn’t on players that can leave or players that can arrive, my focus is on the game.”
City have rejected two bids from Barcelona for Rodri but anticipate a third, and are expected to sell Tijjani Reijnders in the coming days. They are also in the market for reinforcements as they aim to challenge on four fronts. City are close to signing the 18-year-old Morocco international Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille but are willing to bring in others.
Rodri, who has a year remaining on his contract, returned to the club on Friday after his holiday which followed a triumphant World Cup, but Maresca would not be drawn on the midfielder’s immediate future with a third Barcelona offer expected.
“The transfer window is open, we can buy players, we can sell players, anything can happen. I just saw Rodri now in the building, I gave him a big hug, he looks good, so we’ll see what happens.”
Reijnders is set to join the Saudi Pro League side Al-Qadsiah after the two clubs agreed a £51m fee for the Dutchman, who moved to City last summer from Milan but wants more regular playing time.
“They all work every day, they all do sessions every day and at the end of the week they all want to play a game,” Maresca said. “When they don’t play they struggle to understand or they struggle to see the reason why, and I can understand that after one season some of them would like to play a little bit more. It’s a normal situation.”
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James Trafford has already been sold to Leeds, while Omar Marmoush, Rico Lewis and Savinho are others who spent much of Pep Guardiola’s final season on the periphery and could be sold.