Haaland was among the first players to contact Maresca after he was confirmed as Pep Guardiola's successor at the Etihad Stadium, and remains part of City's leadership group following an astonishing run of 162 goals in four years at the club.
But that goal record is precisely the problem, according to the new manager, who operates a rule that requires his captain to head to the touchline for instructions whenever the team scores — something Maresca fears would be unworkable with Manchester City's leading marksman wearing the armband.
"At Leicester and Chelsea, I had a rule that when we scored, the captain had to come to the bench not to celebrate for instructions," Maresca explained.
"But if he scores, then he can celebrate. So if Erling is the captain, we have a problem, f**king hell, can you imagine?"
Ruben Dias is instead expected to be handed the captaincy, with Maresca's system already visible during City's pre-season tour of the Far East.
"If you saw the game on Wednesday, when we scored the first goal, Ruben came over to the bench," Maresca said. "I think even if it is two or three minutes, there is always something to adjust."
Dias, Haaland and Rodri currently make up City's leadership group, though question marks hang over Rodri's involvement amid continued interest from Barcelona.
Maresca intends to make the final call on the captaincy himself and wants at least one English player included, with Phil Foden among those under consideration.
"At the moment, we have three or four captains and we are missing one," he said. "In the case of Rodri, see what happens."
Elsewhere at the Etihad, Mubama has completed a switch to Southampton on loan for the coming season after an injury-hit spell at Stoke City, where he scored five goals in 28 appearances before a "terrible" challenge, as manager Mark Robins described it, ended his campaign early in a goalless draw with Queens Park Rangers.
The 21-year-old, who joined City from West Ham in 2024, has impressed during City's pre-season tour of Asia, scoring against both Inter Milan and the K-League All Stars and setting up a goal in City's 3-1 win over Atlético Madrid in Seoul.
"With the way this team plays, when you've got players around you that have that much quality, you will be served," Mubama told the Southampton website.
"It's up to you whether you put the ball in the back of the net, and that's what I'm here to do. I've just come back from a pre-season where I've scored goals. I've been playing, I feel really fresh, I feel sharp, so I'm just really excited to get going."
Southampton's sporting director, Johannes Spors, said the club had moved quickly once they learned of the striker's availability.
"As soon as we knew about Divin's availability we acted quickly to bring him here, not just because of his incredible goal scoring ability, but because of his work ethic and hunger to help the team, which will be vitally important this season."