I’m looking forward to seeing what Maresca achieves here, says Wright-Phillips | OneFootball

Shaun Wright-Phillips says he’s excited to see what heights Enzo Maresca can reach at Manchester City.

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Like Maresca, the regular Matchday Live guest too spent spells at City and Chelsea and says he’s delighted to see Maresca ‘come back home’ to the Sky Blues.

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Wright-Phillips helped the club to gain promotion from the First Division to the Premier League at the end of the 2001/02 season under the much-loved Kevin Keegan when the club scored over 100 goals, accumulating 99 points and winning the Championship.

He then moved to Chelsea in July 2005 but re-signed for City three years later.

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The former winger has backed the new boss to impress in Manchester much like he did during his time in London where he won the Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup.

“It seems like when people leave City they always eventually come back home and for me I’ve seen him come back home and looking forward to see what he does and what he achieves in this blue shirt,” said Wright-Phillips during a media opportunity alongside Inter legend Christian Vieri ahead of this weekend’s meeting between the clubs.

“I think he went to Chelsea and kind of steadied that ship, picked his squad, moved the squad of players that he wanted to use throughout the season and in his short tenure he was successful.

“I know through hearing from Chelsea fans a lot of them were gutted he left, including the players as well, so to have him over here now and the players enjoying them as well it’s all positives.”

Maresca’s first test in the City hotseat sees him take on Inter as part of our pre-season.

We face the Italian giants at the Kai Tak Stadium on Saturday 1 August with kick off set for 12:30 (UK).

City are no strangers to the Italian side, our most famous meeting was in the 2023 UEFA Champions League final where Rodri’s second half strike sealed a 1-0 win to secure both a first-ever Champions League and, in the process, the Treble.

Ahead of our latest meeting with the Serie A champions, Wright-Phillips says ‘there’s no better challenge’.

“You always want to challenge yourself against the best opposition and Inter are one of them and not just fitness-wise, tactically and technically, so it’ll be a really good battle and test for everybody,” he added.

During his time as a player, Wright-Phillips featured 275 times for City, scoring 47 goals across ten seasons in two spells.

So in a decade with the Blues, he is no stranger to the preparations ahead of a new term – and its importance for any coming campaign.

“It’s a massive part of it because, like, back in my time, a lot of the senior players used to call it money in the bank,” he continued.

“It’s almost like your backup, you’re setting yourself a baseline and then from there normally you get fitter and fitter from that point.

“So, and to get that gain match practice and especially for the younger lads coming through, they’ve got to see it as a massive opportunity for them to, in many ways, stake their claim in that first team squad.”

Watch our 2026 tour games on CITY+!

Subscribe to CITY+ now to see all three of City’s games during our 2026 pre-season tour of Asia.

We start in Hong Kong against Italian champions Inter on Saturday 1 August, with kick-off at 12:30 (UK).

After that, we go to Seoul to play a K League All-Stars side on Wednesday 5 August and then Atletico Madrid on Sunday 9 August. Both games begin at 12:00 (UK).

All three will be available to watch on mancity.com and our official app for current CITY+ subscribers globally*.

Available for £34.99 for an annual subscription or £9.99 per month, CITY+ gets you closer to the Club than ever before, with documentaries, live games and full-match replays throughout the season.

*City v Inter: Globally available except China, Italy 

K League All-Stars v City: Globally available except South Korea 

City v Atletico Madrid: Globally available except South Korea, Spain 

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