Manchester City: Maresca sees Aït-Nouri differently

Despite a convincing pre-season with Manchester City, Rayan Aït-Nouri has played just 15 minutes since the start of the campaign.

The contrast is striking for Rayan Aït-Nouri. After producing an excellent pre-season with Manchester City, the Algeria international appeared to have made a strong impression on Enzo Maresca. Yet since the competitive season started, his playing time has remained extremely limited.

Across City’s first five official matches, Aït-Nouri has accumulated only 15 minutes. He did not feature in the Community Shield, has yet to play in the league and only came on late in the Champions League clash with Porto. He still made an immediate impact, providing the assist for Erling Haaland’s goal to make it 2-0.

Maresca reportedly sees him more as a winger

His situation is now starting to become clearer. According to Manchester Evening News journalist Simon Bajkowski, Enzo Maresca now views the Algerian more as a left winger than as a genuine option at left-back.

According to the same source, Aït-Nouri is currently not Maresca’s first, second or even third choice at left-back. The Italian coach is, however, said to highly value his attacking qualities, especially his technique, his ability to beat opponents one-on-one and the accuracy of his passing in the final third.

Algeria could help him regain rhythm

The upcoming international break could therefore arrive at the right time for the 25-year-old. With Algeria, Aït-Nouri should have the opportunity to regain rhythm and minutes under new head coach Brahim Hemdani, recently appointed to replace Vladimir Petkovic.

For the former Wolverhampton player, the challenge is now twofold: perform with the Fennecs and then return to Manchester City ready to convince Maresca that he can become a credible option on the left side.

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Mahdi Zakaria LAZRI |

Editor

Football web writer creating digital sports content with a focus on news, analysis and stories that reflect passion, accuracy and objectivity.

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