Enzo Maresca suggests Man City should consider replacing Rodri with a top Premier League player in a surprising move.
Manchester City are reportedly looking to sign a Premier League midfielder as they prepare for Rodri’s departure.
Although Rodri was once linked with Real Madrid, Barcelona made a £38.5 million offer for him on Friday (August 7), but Manchester City turned it down. The club wants more than £60 million for the World Cup winner.
Rodri, who has one year left on his contract, has been key to City’s success since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2019. He helped the team win four Premier League titles and the 2022/23 Champions League, even scoring the winning goal in the final against Inter.
The 30-year-old isn’t expected to sign a new contract at the Etihad Stadium, which means he could leave for free next summer.
Even though City rejected Barcelona’s offer, coach Enzo Maresca seems to be planning ahead. According to the Independent, he wants to bring in Enzo Fernandez, a player he worked with before at Chelsea.
Maresca and Fernandez had a good connection at Chelsea, where they won the Conference League and Club World Cup together in 2025. The City boss thinks highly of Fernandez and hopes to persuade him to join City, despite Fernandez being linked with a move to Real Madrid.
Chelsea value Fernandez at about £120 million. Last season, the 25-year-old scored 16 goals and made nine assists for the Blues.
City have already signed midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for a club-record £116 million this summer. If they go after Fernandez, they might break that record again.
The club is also in talks with Lille to sign young midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi. Lille want £86 million for the 18-year-old, which could make the deal tricky.
There’s still a chance Real Madrid could come back for Fernandez, or that he might stay at Chelsea. The Chelsea coach, Xabi Alonso, recently said he would love to work with Fernandez again but kept details private.
Fernandez’s contract with Chelsea runs until 2032. He has been given extended leave following his World Cup duties and is expected to rejoin the team next week.
The midfielder enjoyed working with Maresca at Chelsea and didn’t understand why the Italian coach was let go last season. He credits Maresca with helping him grow as a player.
“Enzo has helped me a lot to understand my offensive role,” Fernandez said. “He gave me many tools to improve. Both Moi (Moisés Caicedo) and I liked how clear and demanding he was in training and preparing for games. We felt very comfortable with him. Even though it was a short time, we learned a lot as a team. Chelsea is a big and demanding club, and we’re very happy to have had him.”