Enzo Maresca offers no guarantees on Rodri’s future at Man City

By Ian Parker, Press Association

Enzo Maresca said he gave Rodri a “big hug” on the Spain midfielder’s return to Manchester City on Friday but offered no guarantees he will stay.

City have already turned down offers from Barcelona for their Ballon d’Or winner, who is in the final year of his contract, but the Spanish champions are expected to return with an increased bid, which in turn could drive City’s interest in Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez.

Rodri was the last City player to report for pre-season training, only arriving back on Friday, having had back surgery after helping Spain to World Cup glory this summer.

Asked if he expects Rodri to remain a City player, Maresca said: “First of all, 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. Now we will have time to see each other a little bit more.”

Should a player who has been a lynchpin for City since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2019 depart, City are expected to turn to Fernandez, despite Chelsea demanding £120 million for the Argentina international and imposing a deadline of 5pm on Friday for any bids to be tabled.

Maresca said he would not speak about players under contract at other clubs, but admitted City still have work to do in the final weeks of the window.

“For sure there are things we need to do,” he said. “Now, how many, I don’t know. It can be one, can be two, it depends also if players are going to leave.”

When asked if City needed to do any business on Friday given the deadline set by Chelsea, Maresca said: “Not today to be honest, I don’t think we’re going to do something today.”

City have already splashed £116m on England’s Elliot Anderson following Bernardo Silva’s exit, but fellow midfielder Tijjani Reijnders is on the verge of joining Al Qadsiah in a £51m deal as a major shake-up continues in the middle of the park.

Reijnders only arrived from AC Milan for £46.5m last summer, but fell down the pecking order in the second half of the season and started only half of City’s Premier League matches.

Maresca said that it was “normal” that a player would want to play more and this had driven his determination to seek a move.

“It’s a bit difficult to convince players when they are already convinced,” he said. “You need to change their thoughts, that is not always easy.

“Tijjani’s situation is like James Trafford’s situation, some more players, but I think when the club, the player, the manager, they all think the same way, that probably the best decision for a player is to go, you have to go.”

City are preparing for Sunday’s Community Shield against Arsenal in Cardiff.

Erling Haaland sat out the final part of an open training session on Thursday but Maresca said there were no significant concerns over their star striker.

“He had just a small thing behind the heels but he was okay,” Maresca said.