Enzo Maresca surprises everyone by changing his mind about a Man City player’s transfer at the last minute after blocking the move.
Enzo Maresca has now decided to let one of his less-used players leave Manchester City before the transfer deadline – even though he had blocked the move earlier this month.
City are busy preparing for a big transfer deadline day, mainly focused on their interest in Chelsea’s midfielder Enzo Fernandez. Fabrizio Romano shared on Monday morning that City haven’t yet made an official offer for the 25-year-old, who still has five years left on his contract with Chelsea.
Thanks to some big player sales, including Savio’s £75 million move to Spurs, City have plenty of cash to spend. This means that even after paying £86 million for Lille star Ayyoub Bouaddi, City might still have room to bring in one more big player – if they think Fernandez is worth Chelsea’s reported £120 million+ price.
If the Argentine midfielder joins City, he probably won’t be playing alongside another Argentine this season. Claudio Echeverri, who arrived at City in January 2025 and was expected to have a bright future, hasn’t broken into the first team yet. He’s only made three appearances and spent last season on loan at Girona after being recalled by Bayer Leverkusen.
Echeverri featured only occasionally during pre-season and hasn’t played for City this season so far, though he was included in the squad for their 4-1 win over Crystal Palace last Friday. Reports from Argentina said his old club, River Plate, wanted to bring him back on a season-long loan, but Maresca had firmly decided to keep him at City.
Now, things seem to be changing. According to Tribuna, Echeverri will be loaned out before the transfer window closes. Three clubs are interested, with Benfica and Real Betis among the names mentioned. Sheffield United in the Championship have also been linked with a loan move. Their manager, Chris Wilder, has reportedly had a £7 million offer for their key winger Callum O’Hare from Wrexham.
City might like the idea of Echeverri gaining experience playing in English football’s second tier. This summer, they’ve already loaned several young players to EFL clubs. Goalkeeper Pierce Charles is impressing on loan at Queens Park Rangers, centre-back Max Alleyne will spend the season at Burnley, winger Divine Mukasa is with West Ham, and forward Divin Mubama has joined Southampton.
Back in July, City organized an “exhibition day” where reserve and youth players available for loan or transfer played a match in front of scouts from various clubs. After the game, the visiting clubs received detailed information and insights about the players who might be available.