Malo Gusto Emerges as Key Target for Enzo Maresca at Manchester City
Enzo Maresca has not even been unveiled at the Etihad yet, but the shape of his Manchester City is already coming into focus – and his gaze is fixed firmly on Stamford Bridge.
According to reports, the incoming City manager is pushing the club to move for Chelsea right-back Malo Gusto, a player he knows well from his time in west London. Maresca, who left Chelsea in January after winning the Club World Cup in his first season, has agreed to succeed Pep Guardiola and is expected to be confirmed once compensation with Chelsea is finalised.
Maresca looks to avoid the succession trap
Taking over from Guardiola is football’s toughest inheritance. Manchester United discovered that in the wake of Sir Alex Ferguson with David Moyes; Arsenal lived it after Arsene Wenger with Unai Emery. Maresca has seen those cautionary tales and wants his own fingerprints on this City squad as quickly as possible.
He has already been linked with moves for former Chelsea charges Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez. Palmer, though, is considered “untouchable” by the Chelsea hierarchy, while Real Madrid are leading the chase for Fernandez, who is keen to leave.
So Maresca is turning to another familiar face.
Gusto emerges as a live option
With Marco Palestra heading to Chelsea after a £51m agreement with Inter Milan, City have been forced to pivot in their search for defensive reinforcements. Palestra had been on their radar; now the focus is on Gusto.
Chelsea, preparing to welcome Palestra to west London, are understood to want at least £40m for the Frenchman. Crucially, it has already been reported this week that the club are not ruling out a summer sale, despite Gusto’s prominence in recent seasons.
The 23-year-old arrived from Lyon in 2023 for £31m and has since become a fixture in the Chelsea side, racking up 134 appearances across three campaigns. That level of durability and consistency at a young age is exactly the profile City have often targeted in recent years.
Right now, Gusto is on the biggest stage of all. He is part of a heavily fancied France squad at the World Cup and came off the bench in their 3–0 win over Iraq on Monday, a reminder of his growing status at international level.
City’s midfield priority – but defence in play
City’s main summer mission remains a new midfielder. England World Cup standout Elliot Anderson is at the top of their list, with the champions weighing up a third offer after Nottingham Forest rejected a second bid worth £120m.
Yet elite clubs rarely move in single file in the market. While negotiations continue for Anderson, Maresca is clearly pushing for defensive surgery as well, and Gusto fits both his tactical ideas and City’s long-term planning.
A new era under a familiar pressure
Maresca steps into a club that dominated English football under Guardiola and signed off last season with a domestic cup double. The one glaring omission was the Premier League, surrendered to Arsenal as City finished seven points adrift in Guardiola’s final campaign.
That is the standard Maresca walks into: win trophies and win the league, preferably both, and quickly. If City back him with players he trusts – starting with Malo Gusto – the Italian will have fewer excuses and far more tools as he tries to write his own chapter after a legend.
