00:00Good morning, everyone. Hope you're well. We'll take a share of hands for questions, please, with mics on the other
00:12side of the room, and we'll set an embargo partway through for 10.30pm on Saturday evening.
00:21Good morning, Enzo. Some people see the Community Shield as a glorified friendly, other people see it as a major
00:28trophy. What does this game mean to you on Sunday?
00:32For me personally, it's a trophy, and when the trophy is there, the final is there, you always try to
00:40win the game, so no friendly game at all. It's a trophy that we're going to try our best to
00:47win the first trophy.
00:49City had pretty good results against Arsenal last season in the league, obviously beat them in the Carabao Cup final,
00:54but they finished seven points behind them in the table. How tough will that gap be to close this season?
01:00Arsenal have shown in the last two, three, four, five years that they have been always there. It's a fantastic
01:07team, well managed, well coached from Mikel, and again, last year they won the Premier League. They show how good
01:15they are in this moment, but at the same time, we are City, and we're going to try to close
01:21the gap and try to compete again.
01:23Can you just give the fans an update on Rodri? We understand he's back at the club today. Are you
01:28expecting him to be a City player at the end of this window, or are you starting to prepare for
01:32life without him?
01:34First of all, as already said, window transfer is open. We can buy players, we can sell players, anything can
01:43happen. I just saw Rodri now in the building. I gave him a big gag. He looks good, so we'll
01:49see what's happening.
01:52Enzo, hello. Do you really want to strengthen your squad at this stage? Do you feel it needs strengthening, given
02:00the potential departure of Tijani Rinders as well?
02:04For sure, there are things that we need to do. Now, how many? I don't know. It can be one,
02:09it can be two. It depends also if players are going to leave.
02:14So it depends on Italy. But again, now in this moment, I think 48 hours for a final, my first
02:20final in this club, I will try to win the first trophy.
02:25So my focus in this moment is not about players that they can leave or players that they can arrive.
02:30The focus for me personally is just how we can prepare in the best way the game and try to
02:36win the final.
02:37Would you want a player that you know very well in Enzo Fernandes? The rumours persist that Chelsea wants £120
02:44million for him. Would any move for him depend on Rodri leaving Manchester City?
02:50No, in this moment, again, I have to give you the same answer since day one and will be always
02:58the same. It's a player from another club and I don't think it's correct to speak about other players.
03:04In the same time, I don't think it's correct when other clubs, they speak about our players. So that's why
03:10I'm not going to say nothing about players that they are not with us.
03:14So just finally, will you be chatting to Rodri today then?
03:18As I said, I just give him a big hug there. Now we have time to see each other a
03:24little bit more when I will be in the building.
03:28Hi, Enzo. I know it's only the first match, but what do you expect to see from your intake on
03:36the team on Sunday?
03:37It's important that we continue to grow. We continue to improve. I think the pre-season has been good because
03:43game after game the team has improved.
03:45Now the pre-season is finished. Now we need to compete. We need to win games. We need to win
03:48title.
03:49What I want to say is the right spirit to continue to improve and, again, the right mentality to win
03:57games and title.
03:58And about two specific players. We didn't see Savinho on the pitch yesterday. Is he okay to play on Sunday?
04:05Is he a player that you want to keep in the club?
04:08Again, Savio yesterday was not part of the session. The reason why he was a little bit ill. We see
04:15it today. The session is in the afternoon.
04:17So we see how it is today and then we decide.
04:20And do you want to keep Vitor Reis in the club or going another long for him? What's the plan?
04:26No, at the moment Vitor stay with us. Then we see until, you know, the wind and transfer close.
04:37Hi, Enzo. Erling Haaland sat out the last part of yesterday's training session. Is he okay?
04:44Yeah, yeah. No, no, he was okay. He was okay. He had just small things behind the heels, but he
04:52was okay.
04:52Okay. Are there any other fitness issues going into the weekend?
04:55No, the only one is Ryan Makedo that, as you know, in pre-season he had a small problem, but
05:01he's already worked with us.
05:04So everyone is fit, knowing that some of them, they just arrived two days ago.
05:09And just with Rodri, obviously he's coming off back surgery this summer. What's his program going forward?
05:15He's now rehab. When he's ready to start training session, start training session with us.
05:22And this is the program for him.
05:25Hi, Enzo. On Tijani Rinders, is it the same situation as James Trafford and Marmoush, where last season has kind
05:33of influenced this one?
05:34Probably, yes. Probably, yes. As I said, they all work every day. They all do sessions every day.
05:43And at the end of the week, they won't all play a game. When they don't play, they struggle to
05:48understand or they struggle to see the reason why.
05:51And I can understand that, you know, after one season, some of them, they would like to play a little
05:57bit more.
05:57So it's a normal situation.
06:00But obviously, Tijani was with you in Asia. And I guess you would have spoken to him.
06:06And when you played him, you told him what you wanted from him and the different roles.
06:11Have you not been able to maybe convince him to stay or talk to him about what you would have
06:16wanted from him this season?
06:17It's a bit difficult to convince players when they are already convinced.
06:22So you need to change, you know, their thoughts. That is not always easy.
06:26And again, it's Tijani's situation, like probably James Traff's situation, some more players.
06:33But, yeah, I think when the club, the player, the manager, they all think in the same way that probably
06:40the best decision for some players is to go.
06:43You have to go.
06:43Just in terms of his playing style, in the friendlies this season, we saw him carrying the ball quite a
06:50lot.
06:51The kind of stuff that you seem to want from the players.
06:56How, I guess he's going to go, but how would you have liked to use him this season?
06:59What did you talk to him about as maybe his best position?
07:02About two.
07:03About Ryan Dez, still, sorry. About Tijani.
07:06Tijani is not done officially, but we'll see in the next hour. I already spoke with him a few times
07:15in pre-season.
07:17Then we'll see at the end if he's going to leave or if he's going to stay.
07:20We try to...
07:22How much is that his style of play? When you spoke to him, did you talk to him about what
07:26he liked to do on the pitch?
07:27Yeah, yeah. In the way he was playing in the pre-season games, I was quite happy with this performance
07:33overall.
07:35Knowing that probably, because I know Tijani from Italy, from Milan when he was there, so I know him quite
07:40well.
07:41I know that probably there he was playing in a different position.
07:44He likes to play a little bit more deep, then more higher in the pitch.
07:48But again, in the pre-season he was good. Now we'll see what's happening and then we decide.
07:54Hi Enzo. With Bernardo Silva going, with Elliot Anderson arriving in that midfield,
08:00how big a task is it and what are the challenges in constructing a new midfield without Bernardo and with
08:07Elliot?
08:08It's a big challenge. First of all, because Bernardo showed how good he is on the ball, off the ball
08:15in these years.
08:16But again, Elliot arrived. We are completely sure that Elliot is doing a great job for this club
08:23in the next one, two, three, four, five years. No doubt about that.
08:27They are different players. But we're going to try to use Elliot in the best way for him and for
08:37the team.
08:38And with the possibility of maybe some other midfielders arriving, with the possibility of maybe Rodri going,
08:45how difficult is it for you to plan for this season and to work out what it's going to be
08:50like in that part of the pitch?
08:53Again, we see what's happened. Bernardo already left. We see what's happened with the rest for sure.
08:58You know, with Bernardo, John, Ake already. We see what's happened with some more players.
09:04But there is a change in this moment. And in the moment that the window transfer is closed,
09:11we need to be good enough to find as soon as possible solution for the players, for the team.
09:18But again, we are in a moment where, you know, players that they were here for many years,
09:25probably they already left, probably they can leave.
09:28And that means that there is a change and we're going to try to do our best.
09:34There are suggestions that Chelsea have set a deadline of today for any bids for Enzo Fernandes.
09:39I know you won't speak specifically about individual players,
09:42but do you anticipate having to do any transfer business today?
09:48Not today, to be honest. I don't think we're going to do something today.
09:54Great. We'll set the embargo there for...
09:55We'll set the embargo there for...
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