Enzo Maresca believes Manchester City now have the squad depth to rival Arsenal following his side’s 1-0 win over Coventry City on Saturday.
Erling Haaland’s first-half header sealed the win at the Etihad Stadium but City needed an brilliant performance from Gianluigi Donnarumma to keep a clean sheet against Coventry.
City made a strong end to the summer transfer window as they signed Ayyoub Bouaddi for £86 million last week before spending £65m on Iliman Ndiaye and £125m on Enzo Fernandez on deadline day.
Last season’s Premier League runners-up also spent £116m on Elliot Anderson earlier in the summer, while their £458m total is a new Premier League record for a summer window.
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City finished seven points behind Arsenal last season but speaking after his side’s win against Coventry, Maresca believes his squad has enough quality in depth to match his Premier League title rivals.
‘If you see since the Community Shield, we played the Community Shield and then Arsenal played two more games [against Coventry and Aston Villa] and they have five changes in every game,’ said Maresca.
‘Two World Cup winners, [Mikel] Merino and [Martin] Zubimendi, two England players, [Eberechi] Eze and [Noni] Madueke, and the other one I don’t remember, I think it was [Piero] Hincapie.
‘In the end, if you want to be there you need options. Arsenal have options. We have options.
‘More teams have options but it’s not just us. I’m very happy with the options we have, that is something important for us if you want to compete.’
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City currently sit top of the Premier League with their wins over Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Coventry City but Arsenal will pull level on nine points if they beat Chelsea on Sunday.
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