Stolarczyk takes unlikely leap to rival Hermansen

Stolarczyk takes unlikely leap to rival Hermansen

Last season, Stolarczyk was a number two at League One side Fleetwood for a few months, and then number one at League Two outfit Hartlepool, who were relegated out of the EFL. On the face of it, neither such spell suggested he was yet ready to be City’s back-up goalkeeper.

But after his first two senior appearances for the club this week, few people would say that now. He may be young, and he may be inexperienced, but he is doing what Maresca wants, and showing few weaknesses.

He is stepping out of his box to join in the build-up phase, and he is playing short passes into players’ feet under pressure. With his hands, it does not yet feel like he has seriously been tested, but equally his positioning may have been so good that the saves he has had to make have looked routine.

Mads Hermansen may be fit to play next weekend and if he is, he will return to the starting line-up. But in Stolarczyk it feels like there is a player who can be a solid back-up, and who can push him too.

Turning 23 in December, the Pole is only five months younger than Hermansen, who benefits from having played more games at the top level, featuring in Champions League qualifiers and Europa League group games with Brondby.

It had felt like Stolarczyk would need more experience away from City this season to aid his development, but if he is going to play in cup games, and he’s going to be learning Maresca’s style every day, then he should still make strikes even if he stays put.

Cryptic Maresca sets quintet on course for exit

Had Stolarczyk picked up an injury at Huddersfield, there would have been two options to replace him, with Danny Ward and Daniel Iversen both on the bench. It felt like a classic move from Maresca, one expressing the need for more signings. He said this was not the case.

There were five fit senior players who could have been picked instead – Timothy Castagne, Victor Kristiansen, Harry Souttar, Boubakary Soumare, and Patson Daka – but because of a “technical decision” and because Maresca felt it was better they stayed at home, they were excluded.

Eventually, he admitted that transfer noise around those players was a factor in his thinking, but he insisted it was not the only reason. He would not elaborate further on what the other reasons were but said all of them had the opportunity to get back into the team next week.

But while Maresca claims he’s not sending a message, it does feel like he is. He is saying to those five players that it’s more beneficial to have two substitute goalkeepers in the travelling party than include any of them in the squad, whether they are going to leave before the end of the window or not.

Vestergaard has shown there are ways back into the team even when pushed right to the fringes, and Luke Thomas’ inclusion in the squad for the first time showed Maresca will call up players he’s previously overlooked, but with none of the five having played a single minute of competitive football so far, it feels like they’re moving further and further towards the exit.