Enzo Maresca can repeat Pep Guardiola’s first Man City move with Jeremy Doku

Incoming Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca finds a situation he cannot have expected with Jeremy Doku

World Cups come along once every four years, the birth of your first child is a once-in-a-lifetime event and – unfortunately – there is no premium on rent-a-gobs in a world where the more controversial or distasteful your view the more chance of it being amplified on the mainstream social media platforms.

Jeremy Doku has found himself the latest footballer to be on the wrong end of bizarre and unfair criticism because major football tournaments attract the worst kind of opinions.

It is depressing enough that the content of the attack isn’t really worth regurgitating, but safe to say it isn’t even new. Rewind 10 years to when Pep Guardiola was ready to take over and there was another (also black, would you believe!) footballer who played for City who was getting a barrage of abuse.

Guardiola hadn’t been officially unveiled as City manager while England were embarrassing themselves with a dismal exit at the hands of Iceland, yet the new boss went out of his way to ring Raheem Sterling up and tell him to ignore the abuse that he was getting in the stands and on social media from people who couldn’t recognise talent when they saw it. Sterling was reassured that not only did Guardiola believe he could shine on the international stage but that regardless he was counted on at City.

That meant a lot to a young player who had struggled after an acrimonious move from Liverpool in a City side that had drifted during Manuel Pellegrini’s final year in charge, with Sterling not even holding a regular place at the Etihad by the end of his first year there as he headed off for Euro 2016. Despite a terrible tournament for all, he came back to Manchester with a bounce because of Guardiola’s words and became one of the best players in the Premier League.

Doku has not been criticised for his football yet the abuse, and the subsequent debate it has prompted, will still have cut through and stung. In what should have been one of the happiest moments of his life, some have chosen to assassinate his character over a football match.

The winger’s phone will almost certainly have lit up with support from teammates and friends – possibly Guardiola as well – and a message from incoming City manager Enzo Maresca would surely go down well. Even if the content of the messages shouldn’t need to be said, they will all be appreciated.

Whether it is now or weeks down the road, Maresca will have to address the situation with Doku to check in on how he is and the sooner that happens it could be better for the manager. In his task of replacing Guardiola, it is a dressing room that needs to be convinced by the new coach.

Doku shouldn’t have become a story in this World Cup, but now that he is Maresca could do worse than replicating one of Guardiola’s first moves at City.