Enzo Maresca, the head coach of Manchester City, has praised Erling Haaland for evolving into a "complete" player following the birth of his son two years ago. Haaland, who has been in impressive form this season, has already scored three goals in City’s first three Premier League matches. Over the past four seasons at the club, he has won the Premier League golden boot three times. Maresca noted that the birth of Haaland’s son in 2024 transformed the Norwegian’s priorities and motivation. “He’s a man now. He’s a dad,” Maresca said. “When he arrived here [in 2022], he was not a dad, and now life completely changes because the priority becomes his son. I'm happy for him because he was already top as a player and as a boy, but now you can see that he is complete now. He is a family man, and he is still scoring goals.” As City prepare to face Porto in their opening Champions League match on Tuesday, Maresca acknowledged the challenges of balancing club and international duties. Haaland has played every minute of the campaign so far, and the Italian manager emphasized the need to manage player fatigue. “It’s not easy for Erling or for any of the players that play for club and international teams,” Maresca said. “It’s normal to see these players start to be tired. So, it’s correct to give them some rest. It can be one game out or one week away. The priority is to allow the players to be good and happy. When you see them tired, the risk of injury increases, and we need players who are 100%.” If Haaland is rested against Porto, Maresca has several options for the center-forward position. He mentioned selecting Antoine Semenyo or using players like Phil Foden or Rayan Cherki as a false 9. Maresca highlighted the flexibility these players can offer. “Rayan can drop a little bit to manage the tempo and the game,” he said. “We need Rayan in the position to be dangerous. The last game against Coventry, we made contact with him five or six times between the lines and created chances. It depends on the game. Against Coventry, it was good for him to drop a little bit and manage the tempo. We need him in the right position because he gives us the quality. Phil can also do that, and the last pass between the lines is very good. We are lucky that we have two very good players that can do this.” Maresca acknowledged that Porto, managed by Francesco Farioli, has started the season strongly, securing 15 points from their first five league games. When asked if City would be favorites at the Estádio do Dragão, Maresca remained cautious. “We are here to do our best,” he said. “The game will dictate the favorite. This is a hard place to come. This season they started very good. In the last 14, 15 games in Europe, they just lost one. We are going to try our best and try to win the game. I know that Porto is very good in set pieces. I think it has become part of the game now, so we need to do our best, defend in the right way, and score goals from set pieces as much as we can. All teams are prepared for that, so we need to be perfect.” Regarding the squad, Maresca said Nico O'Reilly would “probably” be available after missing the Coventry game due to a late fitness issue. However, he was “not sure” about Jérémy Doku’s availability after an injury.