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Will Manchester City make new signings? Maresca responds

Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca believes he still has serious work to do in the transfer market, and he is in regular contact with the club's officials with the aim of strengthening his squad.

City sent a message to their Premier League rivals last month, completing a club-record £116 million deal for Nottingham Forest and England star Elliot Anderson.

The 23-year-old midfielder became the first signing of the Maresca era, arriving after Pep Guardiola brought the curtain down on his glittering decade-long tenure at the Etihad Stadium earlier this summer.

Anderson remains the only addition to the first-team squad, though. With less than a month left before the window closes, fans are growing increasingly impatient for more reinforcements after two years without a title.

Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Nathan Aké and Manuel Akanji all left the blue half of Manchester, following Guardiola out of the door and taking a great deal of experience with them.

Several press reports suggest City are actively chasing Chelsea winger Pedro Neto, a player Maresca knows well from their time together at Stamford Bridge.

Whether City will meet Chelsea's £70 million asking price for the Portugal international remains to be seen. AC Milan have also been linked with him.

Maresca spoke at a press conference before City's friendly against a Korean League all-star team in Seoul: "Luckily, this is a team that does not need to do many things."

As reported by the newspaper "Metro", he added: "At the same time, as we already know, the club lost important players in terms of experience such as Bernardo (Silva), John (Stones), Nathan (Aké), and other players."

He continued: "So, certainly, there are things we need to do."

Asked whether City were close to signing any other players, Maresca replied: "No, not at the moment."

He noted: "The reason I said there are things to be done is that the transfer window is open, and when it is open, anything can happen."

He went on: "Yes, it is only August, then in September when it closes the situation becomes completely different."

The Italian was keen to reassure fans that he speaks daily with director of football Hugo Viana and chief executive Ferran Soriano about potential deals and departures.

"Hugo is here, and Ferran is here too," he added.

He continued: "We are just trying to talk day by day to see whether we need to do something."

He concluded: "As I said, there are certainly things we need to do, but we are in contact every day."




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