Haaland vow and World Cup ambitions give Man City players new drive under Maresca

Enzo Maresca is set to take charge at Manchester City following Pep Guardiola’s departure after a decade that yielded 20 trophies, with players and staff already framing the transition as a chance to prove they can win without the Catalan coach.

Guardiola’s farewell event at the Etihad — which included appearances from returning club legends and a message from Neil Warnock — marked the end of one of the most decorated managerial tenures in Premier League history. Attention has now shifted to whether City can maintain that level under Maresca.

Erling Haaland set the tone at the post-season gathering, telling those present: “We want to win the biggest titles and we didn’t win them this year, we want to fight for those titles.” The Norwegian’s words signal that the squad’s hunger has not dimmed despite falling short of the top prizes in Guardiola’s final campaign.

Manchester Evening News chief City writer Simon Bajkowski believes the transition will bring a shift in mentality rather than a collapse in standards. “Everyone thinks there’s going to be a drop-off after Pep — it would be weird if there wasn’t — but you’ve got Enzo Maresca coming in who is determined there won’t be, and the players as well, they don’t want to be seen as players who are nothing without Pep,” he said.

Bajkowski also pointed to international ambitions as an additional spur. “A lot of them want to win the World Cup and do as well as they can for their countries, but when they come back there will be a different level of motivation from them,” he added.

City’s rivals will be hoping for a decline similar to the one Manchester United experienced after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013. The structures Guardiola helped build at the Etihad, however, are widely seen as more robust than those United had in place at the time of Ferguson’s exit — though the scale of the task facing Maresca remains significant.