Maresca confirms injury blow ahead of Bournemouth clash

Enzo Maresca has been dealt a blow ahead of Manchester City's opening game of the Premier League season, with Jeremy Doku ruled out.

Enzo Maresca confirmed that Jeremy Doku will miss Manchester City's opening game of the Premier League season because of a calf injury. The Citizens welcome Bournemouth to Etihad Stadium on Sunday, but they will be without Doku, who sustained the problem in last week's Community Shield defeat.

Doku was replaced at half-time by Jack Grealish after complaining of an issue, with Maresca expecting to be without the forward for two to three weeks.

"At the moment, the only one out is Jeremy Doku," Maresca confirmed. "Unfortunately, in the last game, at half-time, he was complaining about a little bit of pain in his calf. The idea with him was to play 45 minutes anyway, so the change was planned, but at the moment it looks like two or three weeks, no more than that."

Key creator missing for City

It is a bitter blow for Maresca, who will not be able to call upon a player who registered 21 goal involvements (10 goals, 11 assists) in all competitions for City in 2025-26. Only Rayan Cherki (97) created more chances for the Citizens last season than Doku's 96, and Maresca confirmed he will be without the Belgian international this weekend.

City have won all nine of their Premier League home games against Bournemouth by an aggregate score of 34-6. The Citizens have netted 3.8 goals per game when hosting the Cherries in the competition, which is their highest average against any opponent on home soil.

Squad overhaul continues

It has been a summer of change at City, with Maresca coming in to replace Pep Guardiola while the likes of Rodri, John Stones and Tijjani Reijnders have all left the club. Savinho is reportedly closing in on a move to Tottenham, while the futures of Nico Gonzalez and Omar Marmoush are up in the air after falling out of favour last season.

Elliot Anderson's £116m arrival from Nottingham Forest is City's only major signing so far, and Maresca is hopeful any further outgoings will be replaced.

"Apart from Rodri, they all have one thing in common – they don't play a lot," Maresca said. "They all want to play, and when they don't play they would prefer to leave. It's always complicated when someone leaves and someone else arrives, but for sure we will need more options if players go out. If some leave, some must arrive."

"I'm not worried or concerned. Since day one we have known exactly what we need. I am working with the club and the sporting director. There are 10 or 11 days to go, and many things can happen. We don't have a minimum or maximum number [of players]. If we win or lose games, we are not going to change our perspective on how many players we need."