Anderson and Ndiaye lead City's summer signings as Doku struggles to rediscover form

Elliot Anderson and Iliman Ndiaye are making the strongest cases among Manchester City’s summer recruits under Enzo Maresca, with both players stepping up during a patchy run of results since the international break. Anderson’s surging run and cross set up Erling Haaland’s fifth goal in City’s Champions League win over RB Leipzig, while Ndiaye’s delivery for Enzo Fernandez in the same game was his fourth assist in five appearances.

Haaland was effusive in his assessment of Anderson after the Leipzig victory. “He has been amazing, he has had an amazing start to his City career and that is what you expect,” the Norwegian said. “You have to come straight in and perform. It is not easy to come in, you need to adapt and new players and a new coach, so he has been impressive. Respect.”

Anderson, who briefly became City’s record signing at £116m, has featured more prominently in midfield than Ayyoub Bouaddi and offered more than Enzo Fernandez across recent weeks. He faces a return to former club Nottingham Forest on Saturday having already justified the fee in the eyes of his teammates.

Ndiaye, signed from Everton, has been equally productive on the flank. Three of his four assists have come from crosses headed in — two of them converted by Haaland — leaving him level with Phil Foden at the top of City’s assist charts. With Antoine Semenyo hampered by injury, the former Everton forward has become Maresca’s most reliable wide option.

The contrast with Jeremy Doku is stark. The Belgian winger looked set to become a defining figure in Maresca’s system after tearing Liverpool apart on his return from injury last month, but his influence has since faded. He beat his man nine times in the Aston Villa defeat without producing anything meaningful from those positions, and similar wastefulness in the final third has been a recurring theme against Brighton and Leipzig.

Doku is not solely responsible for City’s struggles in those games — decision-making across the forward line has been inconsistent — but a player who appeared to be recapturing his best form has yet to sustain it. Maresca has acknowledged that his squad needs time to fully absorb his ideas, and the early returns from Anderson and Ndiaye at least suggest that process is already bearing fruit in certain areas.