Club linked with move for Malo Gusto
With most Manchester City fans being happily distracted by both the football and quite a lot of the nonsense that leads us all to extra hydration, given the summer of 2026 World Cup out in the United States, Canada and Mexico as FIFA cash in with a triple hosted event, news that closer to home we have seemingly finally struck agreement with Chelsea for the services of new manager Enzo Maresca, will cheer everyone up.
Whilst the reported compensation fee of around the 20 million Euros (£17.2 million) mark is exceptionally high given he has been out of work and on gardening leave since the New Year after going public on what life is like behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge and who really calls the player selection shots, from our point of view it is simply a case of get it done.
Much like new betting sites in the UK would not be offering odds on the name of our new gaffer, we have known for a while that Maresca would be Pep Guardiola's replacement in the dugout and with the deal already taking this long, we do not need any further distractions given Pep's departure will be disruptions enough as we head into the new 2026/27 season.
With news that the agreement in question has now been struck, somewhat predictably you could say, the transfer window speculation rumour mill has quickly fired into action and it is suggested that Maresca has already encouraged us to make a move for Chelsea's Malo Gusto - with it believed that they are now looking to move him on to make space for imminent new signing Marco Palestra.
The 23 year old versatile French international defender featured regularly for their first team set up last season, and having more than played his part in their qualification campaign, he is on duty with the squad at the tournament and has already featured as a substitute in their 3-0 victory over Iraq earlier in the week.
Irrespective of what happens at Stamford Bridge on the Palestra front, moving for somebody like Malo with his age, experience and versatility makes a lot of sense as we look to cover positions quickly given the players that we know will be moving on from the backline through a variety of contract expiries and then a couple of expected transfer outs before the transfer window slams shut at the beginning of September.
It also makes a lot of sense when looked at purely on a player trading front, as despite Palestra's obvious rise in the game in recent years, how he has impressed for Atalanta (and mainly Cagliari during his loan spell) and the expectation that he will have a bright future in the game - experience is an issue, adjusting to England is another question and he has a lot of development to do.
Chelsea are gambling again and we could benefit from grabbing a very tidy player in the process, but that is not our problem and Maresca's existing relationship and even his prior criticism of Chelsea's running could very much work in our favour here if Gusto shares those sentiments and would join with a point to prove of his own.