Enzo Maresca praises ‘very good’ Man Utd signing ahead of Manchester derby

Enzo Maresca has hailed the ‘fantastic job’ Michael Carrick has done at Manchester United and praised one of his summer signings ahead of the Manchester derby.

Manchester City head to Old Trafford on Sunday looking to maintain their 100 per cent start to the season and their place at the top of the Premier League table.

Though they have not beaten their local rivals at Old Trafford in three years, City will be fancied to win this clash after their impressive start to the campaign.

Conversely, United have won just one of their opening three league games and have had two days less to recover for the derby after playing in the Champions League on Thursday.

Carrick was appointed manager after a successful stint as interim boss following Ruben Amorim’s departure but some have already questioned how long the former United captain will last in the dugout.

But speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Maresca had nothing but positive things to say about his rival: ‘I think he is doing a fantastic job since last season.

‘He took over in a complicated, difficult situation. They finish very well.

‘This season, more or less, they’ve started in the same way. He is doing a very good job.’

During the summer transfer window, Carrick focused on rebuilding his midfield, signing Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba.

Santos is a player well known to Maresca through his time at Chelsea, though he only started the Brazilian nine times, thanks in part to the presence of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez.

United paid Chelsea an initial £48million for the 22-year-old but he has had a tricky start to his Red Devils career.

After starting the opening day loss at Hull, he has been limited to cameos off the bench, with Kobbie Mainoo ahead in the pecking order.

But if Maresca is to be believed, Carrick has a real gem in his squad, with the City manager highlighting Santos’ great attitude on the training ground.

‘Andrey is a very good guy, first of all,’ the Italian said.

‘Polite, humble, hard-working. So, all the best to him. I can only speak very good about Andrey.’

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