Manchester City begin new era against Arsenal in the Community Shield | OneFootball

Arsenal and Manchester City meet to open the season in the Community Shield, City's first game after Pep Guardiola’s decade-long stint. Enzo Maresca now leads the champions.

According to El Periódico Mediterráneo, the match is in Cardiff rather than Wembley because the London stadium is hosting The Weeknd’s After Hours Til Dawn tour.

Arsenal won the 2023 edition. They have 17 Community Shields, behind Manchester United on 21, while City have seven, the latest in 2024.

Mikel Arteta called Guardiola the best coach in football history. He worked under Guardiola from 2016 until taking the Arsenal job in 2019. Maresca was on Guardiola’s staff in 2022-23, then had a spell at Chelsea.

Maresca insisted this is a final with a trophy, not a friendly, and said City will do everything possible to win a first title of his tenure.

City have lost several key figures, including Nathan Ake, John Stones and Bernardo Silva. Rodri has rejoined only provisionally and will not play, due to fitness and talks with Barça, with City seeking 80 million euros and Barça offering 60 million.

They have already lined up his prospective replacement, Elliot Anderson, for 135 million euros, though Nico González is set to run midfield on Sunday. Four other signings total 43 million, and Maresca must rule on returning loanees such as Vitor Reis, Claudio Echeverri and Manuel Akanji.

Arsenal have invested more than 160 million on three signings, Piero Hincapié for 49 million, Bruno Guimarães for 88, and Christos Tzolis for 40.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”