Maresca: '100%' would still join City, jokes about League One

📰 In his first press conference since the guilty verdict, Enzo Maresca said he would "100 per cent" still have taken the City job, and laughed off a question about League One. 📌 Key points 🎤 Only two of roughly 30 questions were about football, according to Sky Sports. 💯 Asked if he would have joined knowing the verdict, he answered "100 per cent". 😏 On League One, he joked that he had already won the Championship with Leicester. 🏆 Asked if the treble season now looks different, he said "absolutely not". 🔥 He expects the Anfield atmosphere to be even worse because of the situation. 📝 What happened 🎤 Maresca faced the media on Friday 9 October ahead of the trip to Liverpool, his first press conference since the verdict. The 15-minute session was dominated by the case: Sky Sports counted only two non-charges questions out of about 30 and called his handling of it a media masterclass. 😏 The moment everyone is talking about came when League One was mentioned. Maresca smiled and pointed out he had won the Championship with Leicester, adding "we will see". He did not, however, commit to staying if City were relegated. Asked whether he would consider his position, as Pep Guardiola once said he would, he said it made no sense to talk about it without more information. 💯 Asked whether he would still have taken the job had he known the findings, he replied "100 per cent". Correcting an earlier answer, he insisted he trusts the club "in this moment, in the future, always". On Sheikh Mansour's assurances, he said the right time to talk would be after City win the appeal. 🏆 Maresca, who was Guardiola's assistant in the 2022-23 treble season, flatly rejected the idea that those titles are tainted. He also said Guardiola, who visits on Tuesday, "can come at any time he wants" after ten years at the club. 📊 By the numbers • Press conference length: 15 minutes • Football questions out of about 30: two (Sky Sports) • City's league record: five wins from five, top of the table • Liverpool v City: 11 October at Anfield 🔭 Why it matters It was the first time City's head coach had to face questions about relegation and his own future head-on. He laughed them off but made no promise to stay, leaving the door open for the appeal outcome to shake the dugout too. City visit Liverpool on 11 October and host PSG on 14 October.