Manchester City forward Antoine Semenyo has spoken enthusiastically about new head coach Enzo Maresca's tactical approach, describing the style of play as "music to my ears" following an early glimpse of life under the Italian.
Maresca's tenure began with defeat in Hong Kong, as City lost on penalties to Inter Milan in his first match at the helm, taking over from Pep Guardiola. Despite the result, the performance offered clues about the attacking football Maresca intends to implement.
Semenyo featured for the first half of the contest and caused problems for Inter defender Andy Diouf with his pace and directness, contributing to the buildup for Divine Mukasa's goal. Fellow winger Ryan McAidoo also caught the eye after coming on as a substitute, prompting Maresca to praise the pair as the type of wide players he favors—players willing to be "very aggressive" and confident in one-on-one duels.
Reflecting on the appointment, Semenyo explained that he had anticipated this style of play given Maresca's history at Chelsea. "When he got appointed, that was the first thing I thought about because when you've played Chelsea previously when he was there, his wide men were always high and quite free," he said. "So that was one of the things that excited me the most when he got appointed and it's exciting for me as a winger. I get to have one-v-one situations most of the game and I am looking forward to it."
The 25-year-old added that he has already held individual discussions with his new manager about tactical setup and positioning. "I think his ideas are great, quite similar to Pep, but if you watched the [Inter] game, you would have seen a couple of his ideas play out and it was good. Enzo is just [stay] out wide and when you get the ball, just create opportunities. So it is music to my ears," Semenyo said.
Semenyo's move to City came in a January transfer deadline deal worth £65m from Bournemouth, with Guardiola beating out interest from Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Chelsea. According to the forward, City's interest emerged in early December before he committed to the switch the following month.
He expressed gratitude toward his former club, saying: "I owe them everything to be honest. They helped my Premier League career flourish and obviously the management, the staff behind the scenes, they were all amazing, they made everything so smooth."
Last season proved fruitful for Semenyo, who scored 21 goals across club and international duty, including the decisive strike in City's FA Cup final triumph over Chelsea—a moment he called a "dream come true"—as well as helping the club win the Carabao Cup.
Speaking at an Ahmad Tea promotional event in Hong Kong, Semenyo also recalled conversations with Guardiola before his arrival. "Pep spoke to me beforehand and he said, 'look, when you come, I am going to make you a better player.' You want to get better, you want to improve every season and he definitely helped me with that in the first five months, but obviously sad for him to leave," he said.
Beyond football, Semenyo opened up about his Christian faith, which he displays through tattoos and describes as central to his identity. He was baptized last December, fulfilling a long-held desire delayed by his football commitments. He noted that he prays before matches and the night prior alongside teammates Jeremy Doku and Marc Guehi, saying it provides them with "maximum strength."
Asked whether faith takes precedence over football in his life, Semenyo was unequivocal: "Yeah, 100%. I wouldn't be here without him [God], so there is always going to be faith and football after. I think God gave me the talent to be a footballer, he gave me all the skills, he gave the mindset and the mentality, so I owe it to him to perform and maximise his words to the world."
Based on reporting from BBC Sport Football.