Maresca’s City Era Begins with Chelsea Tug-of-War for Gusto
Enzo Maresca has not even been unveiled at the Etihad yet, but his first battle with Chelsea may already be under way.
According to reports, the incoming Manchester City manager is urging the club to move for Malo Gusto, the French right-back he worked with at Stamford Bridge.
Maresca’s City era starts with a Chelsea tug-of-war
City have reached an agreement on compensation with Chelsea and are poised to confirm Maresca as Pep Guardiola’s successor. The 46-year-old left west London in January, less than six months after lifting the Club World Cup in his first season in charge, and now walks into one of the most demanding jobs in modern football.
He also walks into the shadow of a giant. Replacing Guardiola at City carries the same weight that sank others at Manchester United and Arsenal when they followed Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger. David Moyes and Unai Emery felt the strain. Maresca knows it.
So he wants his own players.
City have already been linked with two of his former Chelsea cornerstones, Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernández. Chelsea, though, have drawn a hard line: Palmer is considered “untouchable”, while Real Madrid are leading the chase for Fernández, who is pushing for a move.
That leaves another route back to a familiar face.
Gusto emerges as the realistic target
Maresca has turned his attention to Gusto, with talkSPORT reporting that City are now exploring a deal for the 23-year-old. Chelsea, preparing to welcome Inter Milan defender Marco Palestra after agreeing a £51m fee, are understood to want at least £40m for Gusto.
City had been in the hunt for Palestra themselves, only to be beaten to the punch by Chelsea’s offer. With that door closed, the champions-in-waiting have switched lanes.
Gusto is no fringe option. Since his £31m move from Lyon in 2023, he has become a fixture at Stamford Bridge, racking up 134 appearances across three seasons and growing into one of the Premier League’s more dynamic full-backs.
Earlier this week, reports suggested Chelsea were not ruling out a summer sale. The numbers will decide it. So will Maresca’s insistence.
World stage, club crossroads
Gusto’s situation is complicated by timing. He is currently with France at the World Cup, part of a squad widely tipped to go deep into the tournament. He came off the bench in Monday’s 3-0 win over Iraq, a reminder that he is operating on the highest stage while his club future hangs in the balance.
Chelsea face a familiar dilemma: cash in on a valuable asset to help reshape the squad, or hold firm and risk unsettling a player who knows he has admirers at the Premier League’s dominant force of the last decade.
For City, the attraction is obvious. A young, attack-minded right-back, already adapted to English football, who understands Maresca’s demands from their time together. It is the kind of plug-and-play signing that could ease the transition from Guardiola’s era to the Italian’s.
Midfield remains the priority – but the defence is moving
All this plays out while City chase what they see as their main piece of summer business. The club’s priority remains a new midfielder, with England World Cup standout Elliot Anderson at the top of their list.
City are weighing up a third offer for Anderson after Nottingham Forest rejected a second bid worth £120m. That pursuit is expensive, drawn-out and politically charged. The Gusto move, by comparison, looks cleaner, sharper, more opportunistic.
Maresca inherits a squad that won a domestic cup double last season yet fell short in the Premier League, finishing seven points behind new champions Arsenal in Guardiola’s final campaign. The margin was clear enough to sting, but close enough to tempt City into evolution rather than revolution.
Gusto, if City can prise him away from Chelsea, would be part of that evolution – a first visible stamp of Maresca’s identity on a team built in Guardiola’s image. The question now is simple: how much are City willing to pay, and how much resistance can Chelsea realistically put up once the new man in Manchester makes his move?
