On September 3, Beijing time (CEST), Manchester City correspondent Sam Lee published an article in The Athletic, revealing details of Manchester City's summer transfer activity.

According to reports, Manchester City's pursuit of Enzo was temporarily threatened by a breakdown in negotiations, with Chelsea demanding fixed transfer fees of £135 million, while Manchester City's initial offer was £104 million plus add-ons. Manchester City was reportedly prepared to walk away, but ultimately agreed to pay £125 million on Tuesday afternoon.

On Tuesday morning, Enzo's family was planning to travel from London to Manchester, but at that point still did not know whether Chelsea had granted the player permission to leave. After difficult negotiations, Manchester City finally brought the fee down from Chelsea's initial £135 million demand before the transfer window closed.

Although Chelsea had previously stated publicly that they informed Enzo's agent in May that his transfer fee could be £120 million this summer, and had set a final bid deadline of 5 p.m. on August 14, Manchester City did not appear to take this seriously.

After the deadline passed, Chelsea demanded higher fees, giving the impression that Manchester City had waited until the final days of the transfer window to act, ultimately paying only £5 million more than their opening offer.

In any case, Enzo was Manchester City's primary target from the start, with related reports already emerging in April. At that time, Guardiola's future was still uncertain. Privately, Manchester City had learned of Guardiola's imminent departure roughly a month beforehand and had planned for Maresca to replace him.

Before the end of last season, Manchester City had already decided to make Enzo a key transfer target, knowing that Rodri could leave. During the pre-season tour in Asia, Maresca emphasized that he had not specifically requested that Manchester City recruit multiple Chelsea players, but also did not rule out the possibility of Stamford Bridge players joining them.

Gusto was once considered an ideal candidate for right-back, but Manchester City was unwilling to pay Chelsea's £80 million asking price. They also conducted extensive inquiries into Pedro Neto, feeling he fit many requirements for a winger, but were not prepared to meet Chelsea's valuation to sign him.

However, facilitating Enzo's transfer had always been Manchester City's main objective. He and Maresca shared a very close relationship during their time at Chelsea, often engaging in lengthy discussions about football. When Maresca left Stamford Bridge in January this year, Enzo expressed his frustration and was eager to play under Maresca again.

Insiders revealed that Chelsea had asked Manchester City to withdraw from signing Boadu so he could join Chelsea instead of Enzo, and had proposed exchanging Gusto for Nico O'Riley without paying Manchester City's full asking price.

However, Chelsea denied ever asking Manchester City to withdraw from the Boadu deal, and stated that Gusto was never put up for sale. Maresca holds Gusto in high regard for his personality, his dynamism, his understanding of the game plan, and his ability to impact matches through crucial contributions.

Sources close to Maresca stated that as the new head coach, he had significant input on transfers, which is one of his strengths, and that he worked closely with sporting director Hugo Viana throughout the summer.

This summer, Manchester City identified several key positions requiring reinforcement: right-back, central midfield, and right winger. However, due to the premature departure of many players, other areas also needed to be addressed.

With players who had fallen out of favor last season and wished to leave, Manchester City knew it would face one of its busiest transfer windows in recent years this summer. But in late July, when the pre-season tour began in Hong Kong, some key staff members not directly involved in the recruitment process wondered when things would really start moving.

Some within the club initially expected new signings to fly out to Asia and join the team during the tour, but they quickly realized this was not possible, and even player departures seemed temporarily stalled.

Kovacic revealed in Hong Kong that he would honor the final year of his contract, while Nico Gonzalez also told journalists in South Korea that he fully intended to stay. At that time, plans to sign a right-back had been shelved due to the inability to find a suitable candidate.

Boadu, who performed excellently for Morocco at the World Cup, was identified as a target before the tournament even began. Manchester City and Lille negotiated his transfer throughout the summer, but Lille was unwilling to sell, and its president Letang is known for his tough negotiating style.

Manchester City recovered funds previously spent on certain players, who in many cases had joined over the past two years with the aim of assisting the team with much-needed rebuilding, but these players did not perform as expected.

The mass exodus of players left the squad severely understaffed before the season began, and the clubs selling those players also realized they needed to strengthen and had ample funds available.

Manchester City initially intended to fill all vacant positions left by departing players, but ultimately felt that Nico O'Riley was the right person to replace Gonzalez in midfield, as they had players like Gvardiol and Aït-Nouri at left-back.

Despite a disappointing first season at Manchester City, Aït-Nouri decided to stay and see how he would perform under Maresca. However, he did not get the chance to play in Friday night's match against Crystal Palace.

It was subsequently reported that Manchester United had inquired about a loan deal for him. Manchester United stated that Aït-Nouri's agent had proposed the idea, but Manchester United was unwilling to accept the mandatory purchase clause insisted upon by Manchester City.

Regarding the winger position, sources close to the recruitment process told outlets in mid-summer that there were no top-level players available on the market, but with the departures of Savio and Marmoush, Manchester City needed to strengthen its attack, meaning a solution had to be found.

Palmeiras' 22-year-old winger Allan quickly became one of Manchester City's prospects for a solution, but his unremarkable goal and assist statistics raised concerns among fans and questions about the wisdom of Manchester City's transfer strategy.

Nevertheless, Manchester City still believes it has found a player with excellent dribbling skills and tenacious defensive work, and is confident he can elevate his game to a new level.

Traduit par IA.

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