Manchester City

Image source, Getty Images

New Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca says he is "very happy" with his opening three pre-season friendlies in charge as his players are "open-minded" to his style of play.

City rounded off their Asian tour with a 3-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in South Korea on Sunday.

Maresca's side trailed 1-0 at half-time but a double from Omar Marmoush, both assisted by the impressive Antoine Semenyo, and a late Rayan Ait-Nouri strike secured the comeback win.

"Overall, a very good test against one of the best teams in Europe," Maresca said post-match.

"Credit to the players for the effort they have done. From tomorrow pre-season is finished and the real business starts.

"I'm very happy. Especially because the players since we started have been open-minded.

"They want to understand and want to learn why we do things.

"I know that when you join a new club you try to install new patterns or different ideas, the most important thing is we are getting better.

"But the path is a huge path to improve things. But I can see we are trying what we do in training, and we are getting better at that."

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Matheus Nunes has revealed the extreme emotion on show when Pep Guardiola revealed to the players he would be stepping down as manager, with the right-back saying some Manchester City personnel were in tears.

The Spaniard stepped down at the end of last season after a decade in-charge, with former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca taking over.

"It was unexpected," Nunes said of Guardiola's decision. "We thought there was a chance of him leaving but until he actually says it you don't know if it's going to happen.

"He spoke to us in the auditorium and it was a very emotional day. A lot of people were crying. It's very hard to say goodbye to someone who gave so much to us all.

"Someone who put the club to a level that seems unreachable again. What he did was unbelievable. It is difficult to talk about.

"I remember in that day, when you start to see everything on the screen, it becomes real that he is leaving. It didn't seem real. It felt weird and awkward to actually have to believe it.

"A lot of things are going to change, I have never been in the club without him. It's never easy to say goodbye."

Listen to more from Nunes on BBC Sounds here

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on how you think Manchester City should handle Barcelona's approach for Rodri, after an offer of £38.5m was rejected.

Here are some of your comments:

Ian: Go to Barcelona son!! Enjoy the extra atmosphere that being World Champions must bring! You deserve it and hopefully for all you've done for City they will see that too!

Sean: Rodri has been an amazing player for us since he arrived at the club. He reads the game like no other player. He's valued at least £60-80m, not under £40m, which they have offered. Please City don't sell him cheaply.

Thomas: Rodri is worth far more than the £38.5m Barca bid. Ballon D'or winner just a few seasons ago, World Cup winning captain and Player of the Tournament! Guimaraes has just gone to Arsenal for around £75m, Rodri has to be worth at least that.

Harry: I think £60-70m is enough to start a conversation. With £75-80m enough for a deal. In an ideal world he signs a new contract and we all ride off into the sunset with a couple more Premier Leagues. But in the real world, if he's going, just get him gone and let Gonzalez/Anderson and Bouaddi step up.

John: Rodri is injury prone, take what is offered. Been a great servant but injuries have caught up with him.

Shamoon Hafez and Elizabeth Conway
Manchester City reporter and Spanish football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City have rejected Barcelona's opening offer of £38.5m for midfielder Rodri.

The Premier League club are open to selling the Spaniard, but any deal would demand more than £60m.

The 30-year-old has entered the final year of his contract at Etihad Stadium and is yet to sign a new deal, with speculation rife about his future this summer.

It looked like Real Madrid would be his next destination, but La Liga rivals Barcelona are now leading the race.

Sources told BBC Sport on Thursday that the club had the player's approval to open negotiations with City before an offer was made on Friday.

Barcelona sources had initially told BBC Sport there were no guarantees any deal would be made, but the situation now looks to be developing.

The club said on Friday that they are in ongoing conversations with the player's representatives and later made their opening offer.

BBC sources say talks with Real Madrid have now ended.

Approaching the second week of August in the transfer window, City will be aiming to resolve Rodri's future swiftly in order to sign a replacement.

Talks are ongoing to sign 18-year-old Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille, but the French club's £86m asking price appears to be a sticking point.

Read the full article here

How do you think Manchester City should handle the situation? What is a fair price?

Get in touch with your views here

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter in Seoul, South Korea

Image source, Getty Images

Midfielder Nico Gonzalez joined Manchester City from Porto for £50m last January but has struggled to hold down a regular first-team place.

The 24-year-old played 41 times in all competitions last season and scored a stunning winner in the FA Cup semi-final victory over Southampton, but he was in and out of the team for much of the campaign.

So far this pre-season, Gonzalez has played in both friendly matches, against Inter Milan and the K-League XI.

There were suggestions City may look to let him leave after just 19 months at the club, but the player himself has dismissed such suggestions.

"I'm happy here," said Gonzalez when asked about his future. "I don't want to leave and I think the club wants me to stay. I haven't seen anything but I'm happy here."

Get the latest on Man City from Shamoon here

Image source, Getty Images

Leeds United have agreed to sign goalkeeper James Trafford from Manchester City.

The 23-year-old will move in a deal worth up to £45m having joined City from Burnley for £27m last summer.

Manchester City have secured a 20% sell-on clause as part of the agreement.

The move represents a new record fee for a British goalkeeper, surpassing the previous benchmark of £30m which Everton paid Sunderland for Jordan Pickford in 2017.

It also makes him one of the most expensive goalkeepers in history, with only Kepa Arrizabalaga (£68m) and Alisson (£62m) commanding higher fees.

Approaching the second week of August and City have only signed one player, Elliot Anderson, who is likely to be in the first XI this season.

The fee paid to Nottingham Forest for the England international is a club record £116m, with the 23-year-old seemingly a replacement for Bernardo Silva, who departed at the end of his contract and joined Real Madrid.

Teenage winger Jeremy Monga may be given playing time in the academy after joining from Leicester, while goalkeeper Pierce Charles and winger Mathys Detourbet both immediately went out on loan after joining.

New boss Enzo Maresca said on Tuesday that director of football Hugo Viana and chief executive Ferran Soriano had both travelled to South Korea, where the team are currently spending pre-season, and the Italian admitted "we need to something" in regards to transfers.

• Read about a new deal for Doku

Though there is an acknowledgement that they have not been as active as they would have liked, senior City sources say they are "relaxed" about the situation and have full "trust" in their transfer strategy.

It has been pointed out that Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi were long-term targets and were signed in January, deals that were brought forward from this summer and both have made a positive impact.

The squad is seen to be "young" and "exciting", one which claimed both domestic cups last season, with 20-year-old Brazilian Vitor Reis returning after a season-long loan at Girona and expected to be past of the first-team.

In terms of outgoings, Rodri is yet to sign a new contract and is now attracting attention from both Real Madrid and Barcelona, while fellow midfielder Tijjani Reijnders is likely to leave and has interest from Nottingham Forest.

Meanwhile, BBC Sport said last month winger Savinho is open to leaving the club with Tottenham exploring a move, yet nothing has materialised.

If there are departures from the club, the idea - as it stands - is to bring in a replacement.

There is interest in Chelsea's Pedro Neto, while talks are ongoing for Lille's Moroccan midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi and Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.

Despite the lack of movement, there remains an air of calmness around the hierarchy at the Etihad.

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter in Seoul, South Korea

Image source, Getty Images

Winger Jeremy Doku is the latest Manchester City player to commit his future to the club after signing a new contract until 2031.

Belgium international Doku joined City from Rennes for £55.4m in 2023 and sources have told BBC Sport the 24-year-old will extend his stay at Etihad Stadium, with an official announcement expected next week.

Doku played 48 times for City last season, scoring eight goals, to help the side win both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup in Pep Guardiola's final season in charge.

He becomes the fourth City player to sign a contract extension this summer after midfielder Phil Foden and defenders Josko Gvardiol and Abdukodir Khusanov all agreed new terms.

Get the latest on Man City from Shamoon

Sami Mokbel, Shamoon Hafez, Elizabeth Conway
BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City midfielder Rodri may have a huge decision to make this summer on whether to join La Liga giants Real Madrid or Barcelona - should he decide to leave Etihad Stadium.

The 30-year-old is into the final year of his deal at City and is yet to sign fresh terms.

Real have held a long-term interest in signing the player, but sources at Barcelona said on Thursday that the club now had the player's approval to open negotiations with Manchester City.

Barcelona sources said there were no guarantees any deal would be made but that it was a key development.

Rodri said earlier this season his future would be sorted out after the tournament, but he is currently out of action after undergoing back surgery.

City sources have previously told BBC Sport they are "counting on" the player for next season, while a significant fee would need to be offered to even consider a sale.

Read more here on Rodri's future here

Real Madrid could make two Manchester United targets available - French midfielders Aurelien Tchouameni, 26, and Eduardo Camavinga, 23 - in order to free up funds so they can sign 30-year-old Spain midfielder Rodri from Manchester City. (El Nacional - in Spanish), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

The 2026-27 Premier League season has not yet kicked off, but it has already made history.

Nine clubs are set to begin the campaign with a new permanent manager - the highest number ever for the top flight's opening weekend.

The scale of turnover has dramatically reshaped the Premier League's managerial landscape.

The upheaval did not begin this summer. The 2025-26 Premier League season featured 11 managerial changes, with Forest among the clubs to make multiple appointments during the campaign.

The average tenure of a top-flight boss now stands at about 20 months, illustrating just how fleeting life in one of football's most demanding jobs can now be.

Recent history also suggests changing manager offers no guarantees. During the 2025-26 season, several clubs that switched coaches continued to struggle. Forest employed three managers during the campaign, Tottenham changed head coach twice, while Chelsea also altered direction before the season ended.

Others, however, did enjoy an immediate uplift. Michael Carrick averaged 2.6 points per game across his first five matches as Manchester United boss, while Liam Rosenior collected the same return after taking charge of Chelsea. Rosenior's tenure ultimately proved short-lived, though, with the Blues winning just one of his final eight Premier League matches before he was dismissed.

• Read more on a summer of change

Research discussed in the Financial Times,, external external, drawing on findings from Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, argues that player quality and spending remain stronger predictors of results than managerial changes alone.

Sports consultancy Twenty First Group says coaches often succeed or fail according to the environment they inherit as much as their own abilities.

Since the Premier League began in 1992, only six managers have won the title in their first season in charge of their club.

Mourinho became the first to achieve the feat with Chelsea in 2004-05, before Carlo Ancelotti repeated it with the same club in 2009-10.

Manuel Pellegrini guided Manchester City to the title in his debut campaign in 2013-14, Claudio Ranieri masterminded Leicester City's remarkable triumph in 2015-16, Conte won the league in his first season at Chelsea in 2016-17, and most recently Slot led Liverpool to the championship in his maiden campaign in 2025-26.

With almost half the division beginning the campaign under new leadership, the Premier League enters one of its most unpredictable seasons in recent memory.

Katharine Sharpe and Simon Casson
BBC Sport senior journalists

The 2025-26 Premier League and Championship seasons included the introduction of squad-cost ratio rules on a shadow basis, testing to see how a spending cap for squad costs set at a percentage of a club's total revenues might work.

These SCR regulations have now been permanently implemented for the 2026-27 season, replacing previous profit and sustainability rules (PSR).

Uefa has a 70% SCR cap for European competitions, so Premier League clubs who qualified for Europe fall in line with this limit.

Clubs who did not qualify for Europe, and so are only taking part in domestic competitions, are capped at 85% of their total revenue.

However, clubs can spend above the 85% limit by using a multi-year rolling allowance of 30%. This allows them to invest ahead of revenue and variance or sporting underperformance.

Every club will start this coming season on 85% + 30% allowance, so effectively 115%.

If a club spends 105% on their squad in 2026-27, it means they have used 20% of their allowance, and for 2027-28 their maximum spend before potential sporting sanction is 95%.

If a club spend less than 85%, they can increase the allowance again to the maximum of 30%.

Spending above 85% but under the allowance results in a financial penalty, whereas going over both the 85% and the allowance will land the club a fixed six-point deduction which increases by one point for every £6.5m spent over the 115%.

'Anchoring' was also trialled in 2025-26, which meant any club's spending could not exceed a multiple of income earned by the bottom-placed club - however this was rejected at a vote of Premier League clubs.

SCR was approved by a vote of 14 clubs to six, and was introduced alongside sustainability and systemic resilience (SSR) regulations.

SSR involves three tests that are applied throughout the season:

Working capital test - assesses short-term cash resources

Liquidity test - assesses medium-term liquidity and resilience

Positive equity test -assesses long-term financial health

The aim of the SCR and SSR regulations is to stop the richest owners providing endless funds to their clubs to sign new players, as any money injected this way does not count as seasonal revenue.

They will also aim to prevent clubs from overspending and accruing unmanageable losses.

Read more about the rules here

Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions.

We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.

Find out more here

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter at Seoul World Cup Stadium

Image source, Getty Images

Jeremy Monga's £10m move from Leicester City to Manchester City may have gone under the radar this summer, but the teenager's own career is not expected to go in the same direction.

The 17-year-old is the third-youngest player to appear in the Premier League and is now settling in at one of the world's biggest clubs, who have former Foxes boss Enzo Maresca in charge.

Monga came off the bench in City's 3-1 friendly win over a K-League XI in sweltering conditions at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

During his half an hour on the pitch, he showed his youthful sprightliness and almost made a dream first appearance when a close-range effort was disallowed for handball, while another curling effort was batted away by the goalkeeper.

It had looked like Monga would be heading to champions Arsenal this summer, as Mikel Arteta's side closed in on a deal, but the Gunners were gazumped by their title rivals.

"Arsenal's interest was very strong because it was very close to me going there, very close," Monga told BBC Sport. "The main decision was probably the pathway and the club itself.

"They have been so successful that it is a no-brainer when Manchester City call. It is every child's dream to win trophies and be at the top with the best.

"I feel like, to me personally, I see myself at City more. I see myself in blue."

A boyhood Chelsea supporter, Monga rates their former player Eden Hazard as his idol and he is intent on emulating the forward.

When Monga was born in July 2009, Hazard was still a youngster at French club Lille before going on to achieve a successful career at Chelsea and Real Madrid.

When asked what he admired most about Hazard, Monga replied: "Definitely his directness. It was him taking the game by the scruff of his neck, trying to win the game by himself and the way he manipulated the ball.

"Even the way he protects the ball from his opponents and moves around the pitch. Everything he did is what I want to do."

If Monga goes on to achieve even half of what Hazard produced in his career, he will have done all right for himself.

Read the full article here