Man City Round-Up, Monday 9th November: Guehi Injury Blow Overshadows Another Tough Defensive Week After Forest Defeat
Manchester City's miserable run continued at the weekend as Enzo Maresca's side went down 3-1 to Nottingham Forest, a third straight Premier League defeat, and the fallout has dominated the agenda this Monday (Sky Sports) (Football365) (Manchester Evening News) (The Guardian). The Guardian reports that Maresca admits he will use the upcoming international break to properly reassess where things have gone wrong, with suggestions that City's issues could run deeper than just tactics (The Guardian). Gary Neville has also weighed in, questioning on Sky Sports whether the ongoing attention from the Premier League charges verdict is affecting the players' performances on the pitch, while BBC Sport's Tommy Smith made a similar point about the difficulty of blocking out the noise around the guilty verdict (Sky Sports) (BBC Sport).
There's been plenty of debate about selection too. Manchester Evening News have run a poll asking whether Maresca should drop Enzo Fernandez for City's next Premier League outing (Manchester Evening News), while another MEN piece suggests the manager finds himself in an awkward spot after being urged to deploy Ayyoub Bouaddi as a No.6, a switch he has so far resisted (Manchester Evening News). Football365 have also pointed the finger at Maresca's approach, suggesting his tactics are exposing both Elliot Anderson and the wider City team after the run of seven straight Premier League wins came crashing down with three defeats in a row (Football365).
The Forest defeat brought fresh defensive worries. Marc Guehi failed to return for the second half and has since withdrawn from the England squad for the upcoming Croatia and Spain matches through injury, with Manchester City confirming the news in an official statement (talkSPORT) (ManCity.com) (Manchester Evening News). Dan Burn has been called up by Thomas Tuchel as Guehi's replacement (The Sun) (talkSPORT) (Sports Mole). To compound City's problems, Manchester Evening News report that three players picked up injuries on the same afternoon against Forest, leaving Maresca with plenty to plan for as his side look to bounce back (Manchester Evening News).
On the transfer front, Manchester Evening News suggest Rayan Ait-Nouri's City exit now feels inevitable after he was left out of the travelling squad for the Forest game, with Manchester United mentioned as possible beneficiaries (Manchester Evening News). Elsewhere, Sports Mole report that an unnamed Etihad player is said to be 'finished' under Maresca, with January transfer plans reportedly being drawn up (Sports Mole). The same outlet also claims City are among a host of clubs, alongside Chelsea and PSG, chasing a £25m defender who has been labelled the 'next Raphael Varane' (Sports Mole).
Away from team news, former City goalkeeper James Trafford has opened up to Manchester Evening News about the mental challenge of his time at the club, describing a "horrendous feeling" before his move to Leeds this summer following his return from Burnley and his spell as back-up to Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester Evening News). On a lighter note, The Guardian report that Erling Haaland and his father have donated a rare 16th-century history book worth £100k to a library in Haaland's hometown of Bryne in Norway (The Guardian).
Finally, on the business side, Manchester Evening News report that City will pay an extra £320k a year to Manchester City Council under a new lease arrangement for the Etihad Campus (Manchester Evening News). Attention now turns to City's preparations for their upcoming Inter Milan fixture, with the club confirming the travelling squad and releasing footage of open training ahead of the trip (ManCity.com).
This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.
