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Maresca on injuries, sitting down with Foden and 'intense' Villa
Updated Thu, October 22, 2026 at 10:28 AM UTC

Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Aston Villa at Villa Park (kick-off 12:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

  • Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic and Nico O'Reilly "could all be available" for Saturday's match but there are "still doubts" over the trio. Maresca confirmed that Erling Haaland is "100% available".

  • When asked what he has done with Phil Foden since arriving at the club: "I have sat down with Phil two or three times, especially at the beginning, to show him how important he is. In the past few years he was not good enough for different reasons. But when you have more players like Phil, you are a better team."

  • He described Rayan Cherki as "one of the best in Europe when he is in the right position" but stressed the importance of the team not individuals: "It's not about one player. They are all special. Rayan is a top player but we have another 20 top players. It's about finding the right balance of what we want."

  • Maresca still wants to improve in "all areas" despite a near-perfect start to the season: "We can attack and defend better. In the past three games we had the best defence in the league before our game started, but then we concede goals. I am always looking for how we can improve."

  • More on improvement: "Sometimes we forget it has been just three or four months since we started. I was here before but it is a completely new project. We only started months ago but that's why I'm sure we can improve."

  • On Saturday's opponents: "I have huge respect for Unai [Emery]. He has done well at every club he has been to. They are a very good team and you can see clearly what they want; they are very intense off the ball. They are in a good mood at the moment and winning games."

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