"We already knew before the game what we had to do. We are very clear about what we have to do and, for sure, we are going to do something before it closes." Enzo Maresca said that after a 3-0 Community Shield hammering at Arsenal's hands — which tells you everything about how badly that afternoon went and how urgently the rebuild needs to accelerate.
This wasn't a narrow defeat or a tactical misstep you file away and forget. Arsenal dismantled a Manchester City side that is simultaneously losing its greatest manager, one of its best creative players in Bernardo Silva, and arguably the best holding midfielder in the world in Rodri. The Community Shield result is just the first bill arriving for all three exits at once.
The midfield is the problem — and it's expensive to fix
Rodri is heading to Barcelona for €60 million plus €16.5 million in add-ons. Tijjani Reijnders follows for €61 million. City Football Group will look to reinvest that money, but replacing two midfielders of that calibre isn't just a question of spending — it's a question of finding players who actually exist at that level.
Elliot Anderson arrived as the club's record signing at €137 million. He's not enough on his own. Maresca has already flagged the Ayyoub Bouaddi situation — the 18-year-old Moroccan from Lille, expected to cost close to €100 million — as a transfer that needs to happen now, not after the Premier League opener. "The sooner the new signings arrive, the better," the manager said. Hard to argue.
And then there's Enzo Fernández. Chelsea set a deadline last Friday for offers, with an asking price of €140 million. Maresca publicly ruled out any move before the weekend — but that was before the Community Shield. The scoreline has a way of changing internal conversations.
The bill is already eye-watering, and it's not done
City have already committed around €180 million in this summer window. Add Bouaddi's expected fee and you're north of €280 million. Add a bid for Fernández and you're approaching €420 million for a single transfer window — to rebuild a squad that, just twelve months ago, was still one of the favourites for every trophy it entered.
That context matters for how you read City's odds heading into the new season. They are not the finished article Guardiola left behind. They are a transitional project with elite financial backing — which is very different from a finished product. Arsenal, by contrast, looked sharp, organised and settled. The gap between those two clubs right now is real, and the market is starting to reflect it.
Jamie Carragher wrote after the final that "Manchester City have to keep Rodri." They didn't. Now Maresca inherits the consequences — and the transfer budget to try to paper over them.
