Solving defensive frailties

In the second part of Wednesday's special Q&A, Manchester City reporter Shamoon Hafez focuses on defensive frailties and what Enzo Maresca may look at doing to make them more solid for the 2026-27 season.

Jeff asked:City have three defenders playing well for England - Marc Guehi, John Stones and Nico O'Reilly - yet, last season our defence always seemed vulnerable. Why is that and will Maresca sort them out when perhaps Pep Guardiola didn't?

Shamoon: City's defence may have seemed vulnerable but they did end the season by conceding the second-fewest number of goals in the Premier League - 35 in 38 games. However, this was eight more than the Arsenal side that won the title.

Guardiola settled on Guehi and Abdukodir Khusanov after January and the pair formed a good understanding whereby the Englishman, for most parts, was the calming presence and the Uzbek went in fully committed to every tackle he made.

Maresca will have the option of Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol, plus Vitor Reis has returned from his loan at Girona. However, Nathan Ake has been sold to Fenerbahce and John Stones' contract was not renewed, so could he dip into the market to bring in another experienced centre-back?

Come back to this page later on Wednesday for the final part of the Q&A, which will look at who might be in Maresca's starting XI and what overall changes - if any - City's new boss could make.