At one point in the summer of 2026, Manchester City's leadership had to proactively reduce speculation about Enzo Fernandez. However, on the last day of the transfer window, the Argentine midfielder still appeared at the CFA training center after completing a £125 million deal from Chelsea, a record fee in England.
Man City explains that the transfer plan must be flexible because this summer witnessed more fluctuations than expected. After a series of personnel changes, the Manchester team believes that the current squad is stronger than at this time last year.
The reconstruction process was started by Man City in January with Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo, with a total cost of about 133 million pounds. Notably, Rodri's future also changed the transfer plan.
Man City once hoped that the Spanish midfielder would stay, and may even extend his contract. They plan to let Rodri play alongside Ayyoub Bouaddi, who was recruited from Lille for £85.6 million, thereby helping the 18-year-old adapt to the Premier League.
However, Bouaddi is now considered one of the replacements for Rodri. Man City expects this young midfielder to have many opportunities to play in the new season after impressing in the Moroccan national team jersey.
In the context of a constantly changing transfer market, Fernandez has become a more suitable option for Man City's plan. In particular, coach Enzo Maresca plays an important role in this deal. The two worked together at Chelsea last season and Maresca has actively promoted the process of bringing Fernandez to Etihad.
The Citizens' spending ability is supported by large revenue from player sales. The total revenue in the year could be up to about 515 million pounds, of which about 380 million pounds comes from 11 first-team players. James Trafford moved to Leeds United for 40 million pounds, Tijjani Reijnders to Al Qadsiah for 52 million pounds, and Nico Gonzalez joined Newcastle for a fee of 48 million pounds.
Man City believes that these fees reflect Guardiola's rotation policy. Trafford has started in 2 Carabao Cup and FA Cup finals, Reijnders played 47 matches, while Gonzalez scored the decisive goal in the FA Cup semi-finals.
However, the separation of too many players also makes the squad depth a question mark. Savio, Gonzalez and Omar Marmoush all left in the last week of the transfer window. Man City then quickly recruited Iliman Ndiaye from Everton for £65 million to replace Marmoush.
In theory, the new squad has corresponding replacement options. Ndiaye replaces Marmoush, Allan replaces Savio, Elliot Anderson replaces Bernardo Silva and Fernandez replaces Reijnders. Marc Guehi and Vitor Reis are expected to fill the gap left by John Stones and Nathan Ake.
Nico Gonzalez is the only case that has not had a direct replacement, but Man City considers Nico O'Reilly as an option that can play both left-back and midfielder. Meanwhile, Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki will compete for the number 10 position behind Erling Haaland.
However, Man City still lacks a real backup plan for Haaland. If the Norwegian striker is injured, Semenyo is likely to be pushed to the highest position.
The human resources revolution at Etihad is taking place at breakneck speed. Among the players participating in the 2023 Champions League final, only Ruben Dias, Rico Lewis, Phil Foden and Haaland remain.
Now, Maresca must transform the heavily invested squad into a team capable of competing on all four fronts.
