Manchester City gave £185m worth of talent signed on transfer deadline day their Premier League debuts in the 1-0 Premier League victory over Coventry and manager Enzo Maresca will have been quietly satisfied with what he saw from his new duo. Midfielder Enzo Fernandez, brought in from Chelsea for £125m, was initially named as a substitute but was given a late call-up into the starting XI after Nico O'Reilly sustained a knock in the warm-up, while £60m Iliman Ndiaye also played from the off. Both players have had limited time on the training ground with their new team-mates, but showcased early signs of what they will bring to the side and how competition for starting places has ramped up at Etihad Stadium.
Maresca knows Fernandez from his time in charge at Chelsea, with the pair winning the Europa Conference League and Club World Cup together, and he played a pivotal role in Erling Haaland's winning goal. Maresca said: "It is much more easier when a player you already share time together [joins] because they know exactly what you want. "We know each other very well, I know how good he is and I know that he is going to help the team to win games." Man City maintain 100% start with win over Coventry City clung on to a nervy victory against the Sky Blues to maintain their 100% winning start to the season, but managed to get the job done courtesy of a string of saves from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Haaland continued his fine start to the season by converting his third goal in as many games from Antoine Semenyo's deep cross, which came after Fernandez played through a slide-rule pass to the Ghanaian. Playing in the number eight role, Argentina international Fernandez was given licence to roam and make late bursts into the box - he touched the ball six times in the opposition area, with only Haaland managing more with 11. Fernandez could have had a dream debut but saw two shots blocked, before being replaced after 76 minutes by fellow summer signing Ayyoub Bouaddi.
The 18-year-old Morocco international was part of City's midfield rebuild and highlights the options available to Maresca despite the departures of Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez. Ndiaye, meanwhile, became the first Senegalese player to represent City and is bound to give opposition defenders with his trickery and pace. No player attempted more dribbles in the match than his eight.
Maresca said: "Enzo and Iliman [played their] first game with us and then Ayyoub and Ryan [McAidoo] their first game in front of our fans. "That is why I said there are many reasons I am happy about our win. I think they were all good.
"Ili just had two sessions with us. He needs to understand how to move. Most of the time he was moving in the wrong way, wrong position, but he needs to learn and for sure he is going to learn." Asked to elaborate on Ndiaye's performance, Maresca said: "When Marc Guehi has the ball and he was dropping a lot and we don't need that.
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