Will an Algerian international have a key role to play in the new era at Manchester City?

Will an Algerian international have a key role to play in the new era at Manchester City? It is now seemingly only a matter of time before Enzo Maresca takes over as Manchester City manager. Paul Hirst and Peter Rutzler reported for The Times last week that City and Chelsea had finally agreed on a compensation package that would clear the way for Maresca to officially be confirmed as City’s manager . While Enzo Maresca has a similar playing style to Pep Guardiola, the Italian manager does have his own tweaks and preferences. Those could see players such as Rayan Ait-Nouri become more important to their team. In the case of Ait-Nouri, the way that Enzo Maresca deploys his full-backs may give him an important role to play next season. Rayan Ait-Nouri could become important for Manchester City given the way that Enzo Maresca typically utilises his full-backs. Enzo Maresca shares similar tactical traits to Pep Guardiola in how he utilises his full-backs. When Maresca was Chelsea manager, he typically used inverted full-backs to create an overload in midfield. Reece James and Marc Cucurella typically played this role. Both players are extremely technically gifted, and playing as inverted full-backs added another string to their bow as players. Looking at Rayan Ait-Nouri’s strengths as a player there is no reason to think they he could play a similar role to the one that Marc Cucurella played for Maresca’s Chelsea side. Marc Cucurella became a valuable attacking weapon for Maresca’s Chelsea side inverting into a central role from left-back. There is no reason to believe that Rayan Ait-Nouri couldn’t do similar. The Algerian international is an extremely gifted technical player. Also his dribbling ability, coupled with his ability to create opportunities for his teammates. Ait-Nouri, when at his best, is a nightmare for Manchester City’s opponents to contain in the final third. Unfortunately, Ait-Nouri didn’t show a lot in his debut season at Manchester City. AFCON participation and injuries did curtail Ait-Nouri’s impact. But he did show signs last season that he could prove to be a valuable weapon for his team. Perhaps Enzo Maresca could unlock Ait-Nouri’s potential given the way he utilises his full-backs. Rayan Ait-Nouri will face stiff competition for the left-back role next season. While Rayan Ait-Nouri could blossom in Enzo Maresca’s system, he will face fierce competition for the left-back spot at Manchester City. Nico O’Reilly and Josko Gvardiol also play at left-back. Nico O’Reilly is also a player who could thrive playing under Enzo Maresca. Josko Gvardiol is a Rolls Royce of a player at left-back and centre-back and has already thrived playing as an inverted/attacking left-back. He could do exactly that once again for Maresca. So Rayan Ait-Nouri will face stiff competition to play consistently next season. The challenge is ahead of Rayan Ait-Nouri with Josko Gvardiol and Nico O’Reilly also competing for the left-back position. There is no doubt about that. However, based on how Enzo Maresca prefers his full-backs to operate, Ait-Nouri could be an important player for Manchester City next season. He has all of the necessary technical qualities to thrive in Enzo Maresca’s system. If he does, City will have another quality attacking option on their hands.