'I've been enjoying our sessions' - Nico embraces Maresca's new Man City ideas

By SABC Sport
4th August 2026

Manchester City midfielder Nico Gonzalez believes the players are making good progress under new head coach Enzo Maresca, although he admitted it will take time before the squad fully understands everything the Italian wants from them.

Maresca returned to City this summer as manager after previously coaching the club's Elite Development Squad and serving as part of Pep Guardiola's coaching staff during the 2022/23 campaign.

City are currently on their pre-season tour of Asia and travelled to Seoul after spending a week in Hong Kong. Nico featured for 45 minutes in Saturday's friendly against Inter and hopes to get more minutes in the upcoming matches against the K-League All Stars and Atletico Madrid.

With the Community Shield less than two weeks away and the Premier League season just around the corner, Nico believes City are moving in the right direction.

"We won't know everything that we could learn during the year before the first week of the season but even when one year has passed, we will always keep learning," he said.

"That's football and that's life. It's not easy because some players will come the same week as the Community Shield but for us that have been here since day one it's going to be easier to be ready for that match.

"The season is so long so we have to keep being ready to adapt to new things that Enzo asks us."

The Spanish midfielder said there are similarities between Maresca's approach and Guardiola's style, even though there are also some differences.

"I've been enjoying our sessions with Enzo. Obviously there are differences to last year with Pep but there are a lot of similarities in the way we are playing," he said.

"It's the same whole idea of high pressure and getting the ball as quick as possible and doing a lot of passes.

"It's important that we keep the same level as we've been playing over the last few years and with that ambition. I think those are the ideas of Enzo and I am loving it."

City have trained daily in difficult conditions during their stay in Hong Kong, with Nico saying the demanding schedule is helping the squad prepare for the new campaign.

"I feel tired because we've been training a lot," he said.

"That's good though, we have to get used to this rhythm. It's been a long summer and we have to be ready and suffer a little bit.

"We did a good job against Inter, the ideas are getting more clear and that's the most important thing for now."

Manchester City continue their pre-season preparations on Wednesday when they face the K-League All Stars at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in South Korea.