Why Enzo Maresca started Man City job a month early to help Phil Foden

CITY FOOTBALL ACADEMY, MANCHESTER — A month before his appointment as Manchester City manager was official confirmed, Enzo Maresca was laying the groundwork for what he hopes will be a successful first season in charge.

Phil Foden had been left out of the England World Cup squad after a disappointing second half to the 2025/26 campaign. Recognising the probably crushing disappointment for City's homegrown soccer obsessive, Maresca sprung into action.

The Italian tactician addressed members of the media on Friday for the first time since succeeding Pep Guardiola as Etihad Stadium boss, his three-year deal confirmed on June 29. 

He spoke in front of branding that read "Welcome back, Enzo", a nod to the fact that this is actually Maresca's third stint at City, having led the club's Elite Development Squad to the Premier League 2 title in 2020/21 before returning to serve as one of Guardiola's assistants as City swept to a 2022/23 treble.

"Since two or three months ago, when there was a real connection with the club, I started to watch all last season's games," Maresca said, a disclosure that checks out with the now accepted timeline that Guardiola decided he would call time on a trophy-laden decade in Manchester during the March international break. 

While studying those tapes, Maresca will have witnessed a sharp decline in Foden's form. The 2023/24 FWA and PFA Footballer of the Year struggled during 2024/25 after a disappointing Euro 2024 with England. Initially playing slightly deeper in midfield as Guardiola wrestled with injuries in autumn 2025, Foden dazzled, and his touch in front of goal returned with six in four consecutive Premier League matches from late November to mid-December.

Hop forward to January and Foden found himself hauled off during consecutive away defeats to Manchester Untied and Bodo/Glimt. That was the nadir of their season from which City recovered, winning the Carabao Cup and FA Cup. Foden didn't.

MORE: Who is Enzo Maresca? Coaching record, titles won for Pep Guardiola's Man City successor

Why Enzo Maresca started Man City job a month early to help Phil Foden

Maresca said: "I spoke with the ones that contacted me [after my appointment], and the only two players I contacted were Jeremy Doku because he [became a] dad in the World Cup, and Phil when he was left out of the squad to have a chat with him."

Foden was even given the chance to audition in both of the March friendlies against Japan and Uruguay before Thomas Tuchel opted to go in another direction, lamenting the playmaker's apparent inability to take his performances from the training field onto the pitch.

Now back in preseason training under Maresca, the 26-year-old has enjoyed the boost of putting pen to paper on a new contract that commits him to City until 2030. No longer Guardiola's special boy, he is a senior member of a squad facing a challenging transition. A union with agent Rafaela Pimenta, who also represents Erling Haaland, should bring a greater level of professionalism to Foden's off-field arrangements.

"I just want to help Phil to be the Phil that we all know, but especially the Phil that we all want," Maresca said. "First of all, for him, because he needs to enjoy football and [life] in general. Second, because I know how good this Phil is. 

"With Phil in good shape, in a good mood, we can win games. The season of the treble was fantastic. The season after, he won Premier League Player of the Year. Now he's struggled a little bit, but I told him that it's my duty to try to help him, and to have him back in the way we all want. 

"He's from this house. He's from here, so I think it's a nice feeling for me to try to help Phil. Phil is one of City, he's a fan of the club."

Is Jack Grealish still a Man City player?

Maresca also spoke of duty when discussing Jack Grealish, a player with whom he developed a strong bond during the treble season.

Grealish was integral to that success, but two lackluster seasons afterwards exhausted Guardiola's patience. The £100 million signing impressed initially on loan at Everton in 2025/26, before injury curtailed his efforts and wrecked his World Cup hopes.

The 30-year-old is back with his parent club for the time being and is expected to be part of the preseason tour to Hong Kong and South Korea when City travel next Tuesday.

"Jack, at the moment, he's here. He's a Man City player," Maresca said. "I always said the same: in any club I join, if there are players that belong to the club, it's my duty to try to coach them. 

"Jack, at the moment, is here. I have a good relationship with Jack since I left. We keep in touch. The reason why is because he has a big heart and he's a very good guy."

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Despite this closeness with Grealish and confirming he'd spoken to Guardiola since agreeing to succeed him, Maresca opted not to shed any further light on the player's struggles.

"When you don't work day by day with the players, it's difficult to judge," he added. "I don't know what he has done. It's complicated."

City begin their preseason schedule with a game against Inter Milan in Hong Kong on August 1. A reunion with their 2023 Champions League final opponents will spark more memories of Grealish's finest days in a City shirt. But it is Foden who Maresca really needs to go back to the future.