Semenyo embraces Maresca's wide-man freedom

Antoine Semenyo is already loving life under Enzo Maresca at Manchester City, and the Ghana international believes he is perfectly suited to flourish in the new manager's system.

Maresca, who replaced Pep Guardiola as City boss, showcased his attacking intent in his first match in charge — a 1-1 draw against Inter in Hong Kong, which City eventually lost 3-1 on penalties.

Semenyo set up Divin Mubama's 14th-minute opener in an even first half, but it was after the break where the Cityzens truly asserted themselves. They registered 18 shots in the second period, directing four on target while also hitting the woodwork twice. Semenyo had two shots of his own and created a joint-team-high three chances.

The winger is confident that Maresca's tactical philosophy — which keeps wide players high and isolated in one-on-one situations — is tailor-made for his skill set.

"When he got appointed, that was the first thing I thought about because when you've played Chelsea previously, when he was there, his wide men were always high and quite free," Semenyo said. "So that was one of the things that excited me the most when he got appointed, and it's exciting for me as a winger. I get to have one-v-one situations most of the game, and I am looking forward to it."

Individual meetings and familiar ideas

Semenyo revealed he has already held one-on-one sessions with Maresca to understand his tactical vision, and he sees clear similarities with the approach that made Guardiola's tenure so successful.

"I have had individual meetings with him on how he wants to set up, how he wants to play his wide men and just overall as a team," Semenyo explained. "I think his ideas are great, quite similar to Pep, but if you watched the [Inter] game, you would have seen a couple of his ideas play out, and it was good. Enzo is just [stay] out wide and when you get the ball, just create opportunities. So, it is music to my ears."

Guardiola's influence and gratitude to Bournemouth

Semenyo joined City from Bournemouth in January and enjoyed a stellar campaign, scoring 21 goals for club and country last season — including the winning strike in the FA Cup final against Chelsea.

The 25-year-old credits Guardiola with playing a pivotal role in persuading him to make the switch to the Etihad Stadium, and he remains grateful for the impact the Catalan had on his development, even though their time together was brief.

"Pep spoke to me beforehand, and he said, 'Look, when you come, I am going to make you a better player'," Semenyo recalled. "You want to get better, you want to improve every season, and he definitely helped me with that in the first five months, but obviously sad for him to leave."

He also took time to express his appreciation for former club Bournemouth, where he established himself as a Premier League talent.

"I owe them everything, to be honest," Semenyo said of the Cherries. "They helped my Premier League career flourish, and obviously the management, the staff behind the scenes, they were all amazing; they made everything so smooth. I think for me, I just wanted the next step to be the big one and Manchester City was the option."

With Maresca now at the helm and Semenyo relishing the freedom afforded to him on the flanks, the winger will be eager to build on last season's goal-laden campaign and cement his place as a key figure in City's new era.