It’s a new era at Manchester City, but Erling Haaland will hope things don’t change too much following the arrival of Enzo Maresca.
Manchester City recently unveiled Maresca as Pep Guardiola’s successor, following a period of talks with Chelsea to finalise compensation.
The Italian comes in having resigned from his position at Stamford Bridge on New Year’s Day.
Pre-season will soon commence, and Maresca will be looking to put his stamp on this team immediately.
Undoubtedly, he’ll be looking to make this team in his image, but there will also be things Maresca will be keen to replicate from his predecessor.
And keeping Erling Haaland’s rate of scoring high will be a big priority.
Erling Haaland could thrive under Enzo Maresca
Haaland – who is shining at the World Cup right now – has had an unbelievable four years at City so far.
The Norway international is firmly one of the most lethal strikers on the planet, having scored a staggering 162 goals in 198 appearances for the club. He’s also made 30 assists.
Perhaps such a remarkable record was inevitable working under arguably the greatest coach of all-time.
But those worried that the goals could now dry up ought not to be.
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Ultimately, as much as he’ll look to create his own identity, Maresca will be trying to build on what Guardiola did.
City have been at their best when regularly creating chances for Haaland and Maresca will endeavour to do this as well.
It is worth noting that Maresca was a part of the Treble-winning side of 2022/23, and he has already spent a lot of time watching and working with Haaland on the City training pitches. He will know how to get the best out of him.
A criticism of City, though, has been that they can be overly reliant on Haaland.
Maresca will want to remove this overreliance and create other regular goalscoring sources.
We saw Antoine Semenyo really hit the ground running when he signed midway through last season, so he’ll be a candidate. As will Jeremy Doku, whose end product is improving, and possibly Tijjani Reijnders from midfield as well.
Having multiple sources of goals will, in theory, mean Haaland gets a little more freedom on the pitch, and avoid scenarios of the opposition doubling up.
Lastly, Maresca’s work with Nicolas Jackson at Chelsea is reason for optimism.
The Senegal international scored 13 in 37 games under Maresca, which is not a bad haul. Given Haaland is far better, you would think that City’s new boss will have no issues keeping the goals flowing for the number nine.
Starting from last season and working back, Haaland has scored 38, 34, 38 and 52 for City – there is no good reason why he can’t put up a similar tally by the end of 2026/27.
