Enzo Maresca says ‘all teams would need Rodri’

New Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca says any team in the world would need Rodri, after much speculation that the midfielder is on his way to Barcelona.

City lost 3-0 to Arsenal in the Community Shield, with the Spaniard unavailable. The Manchester side were outplayed in what was a worrying game for Maresca.

On Rodri, he said: “Rodri is a player that just won the World Cup, Ballon d’Or – a top player that all teams would need. It’s not about if we miss Rodri or not, I think the ones that played today, Elliot [Anderson] was quite good, his first game, and Mateo [Kovacic].

“But again, I think we can find many things after defeats, we just need to analyse the right way and think about/focus on the next one.

Phil Foden played but was fairly anonymous. This season will be a big one for him, following concerns over the last 18 months that his influence on games has started to wane.

Maresca said on the Englishman: “He’s working very good since the first day we started. He’s working good, he’s in a good mood and this is important for him. And I don’t have any doubts that he’s going to help us this season.”

Some positive news for City is that they are nearing a deal for Ayyoub Bouaddi, and Maresca said: “He’s still a Lille player, but any new signings, any new players, for sure the sooner they arrive it’s better because we’re going to start the Premier League in one week.

And if they start to work with us as soon as possible, it’s better because they can also understand the way we want to play.”