Manchester City are looking to appoint Enzo Maresca as Pep Guardiola’s successor but the club need to secure a compensation package with Chelsea, who axed him earlier this year
Enzo Maresca left Chelsea in January and is set to become the new Man City boss(Image: Getty Images)
Manchester City remain confident of reaching an agreement with Chelsea as they seek to finalise a deal for Enzo Maresca.
The Italian is poised to be named as Pep Guardiola‘s replacement, but compensation still needs to be agreed with Chelsea, whom Maresca left back in January in acrimonious circumstances.
The 46-year-old wants the job and Chelsea were informed by Maresca himself last autumn that he had been the subject of interest from those at the Etihad about eventually replacing Guardiola once his trophy-laden tenure came to an end, which contributed to his departure from Stamford Bridge.
Sky Sports understands negotiations between City and Chelsea are ongoing and lawyers are now handling the final details. A deal is expected to be resolved this week.
Maresca is well known to those on the blue side of Manchester having been an assistant to Guardiola during City’s treble-winning 2022/23 campaign and prior to that had played a key role in the club’s academy before joining the first-team.
Maresca left City to take his first solo job at Leicester back in 2023, guiding them to the Championship title at the first attempt. Those exploits earned him the Chelsea gig, where he delivered Champions League football and two trophies, which his former mentor claimed was worthy of more credit.
Guardiola previously said: “One of the best managers in the world, Enzo Maresca, I know him quite well, but the job he has done at Chelsea does not get enough credit. Winning the Club World Cup, Conference League, qualification for the Champions League in a league that is so tough with a young team. It is exceptional.”
Enzo Maresca previously worked under Pep Guardiola at Man City(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Guardiola leaves City as their greatest ever manager and had begun transitioning the team, which means whoever takes on the job from him will have a squad that is equipped to win silverware and challenge for the title. In the past 12 months Rayan Cherki, Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo have all been signed.
In his farewell speech Guardiola said he would contact his successor and urge him to follow his own ideas. He said: “When the club will tell me which one it is, of course I will call him! And I will tell him, ‘Be yourself, the club will support you unconditionally – that is the biggest compliment – and be yourself.
“‘You will be protected in the bad moments, more than any other club, and be free in your ideas, go there, work a lot, and everything will be fine!’”
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