Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca has reportedly agreed to become Chelsea’s new permanent manager on a five-year contract.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea have reached an agreement to make Maresca their new head coach, and he’s now set to replace Mauricio Pochettino on a long-term contract. The Blues will also have the option to extend Maresca’s stay by an extra year, which means he could potentially be in the Stamford Bridge dugout until 2030.
Chelsea are expected to make Maresca’s arrival official in the coming days, and he will inherit a squad that managed to finish sixth in the Premier League, earning a Europa Conference League spot in the process. The 44-year-old will be on the touchline when the Blues head to the United States for their pre-season tour, with games against Wrexham, Celtic, Club America, Man City and Real Madrid already pencilled in.
🚨🔵 Chelsea have agreed to appoint Enzo Maresca as new head coach, here we go!
❗️ Understand the agreement is now done on contract valid until June 2029, five year deal.
It will also include an option to extend until June 2030.#CFC, set to pay compensation fee to Leicester. pic.twitter.com/o8CsGF9Jcx
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 28, 2024
The Evening Standard has reported that Chelsea quickly identified Maresca as their No.1 target after parting ways with Pochettino last week, despite links with several other managers, including Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna and departing Barcelona boss Xavi. The report adds that Maresca won Chelsea over with his plan to help their club record signing Enzo Fernandez unlock his full potential after his frustrating start to life in west London.
Leicester are set to be paid a compensation fee by Chelsea as they bid farewell to Maresca after just one season, which saw the Italian mastermind their immediate return to the Premier League as Championship winners. Maresca had previously worked as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City and stuck to a similar tactical blueprint to his old mentor with the Foxes, who finished their Championship campaign with a whopping 97 points.
Managerial career
On 1 June 2017, Maresca was unveiled as part of the non-playing staff of second division club Ascoli for the upcoming season. As he did not have the required coaching badges by the time of the hiring, he was officially appointed as assistant to new head coach Fulvio Fiorin, formerly a youth manager and scout for Milan.
In August 2020 he was hired by Manchester City as manager of their Elite Development Squad.
"Both sides are in it for the long-haul" 💬
Kaveh Solhekol gives an update on Chelsea's talks with Enzo Maresca 🗣pic.twitter.com/QnVpkNzdeo
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 28, 2024
After winning the Premier League 2 title with Manchester City, on 27 May 2021 he was hired as the new head coach of Parma, who played in Serie B in the 2021–22 season. Despite a team including former international stars such as Gianluigi Buffon and Franco Vázquez, Maresca failed in leading Parma into the promotion spots, being eventually dismissed on 23 November 2021.
In June 2022, he returned to Manchester City as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistant managers, replacing Juanma Lillo, who became manager of Al-Sadd.
On 16 June 2023, Maresca was appointed manager of Championship club Leicester City, having signed a three-year contract with the newly-relegated English club.
He spent his first two months living at the club’s training base. His first game in charge was an M69 derby on 6 August 2023 against Coventry City, ending with a 2–1 victory for Leicester. Starting the season with a perfect record of four wins from four matches in the Championship saw Maresca named the EFL Championship Manager of the Month in August.
In October, he won the award for a second time, after leading Leicester to another perfect record, getting six wins and 15 goals from six matches. In December, he won the award for the third time, after leading Leicester to end the calendar year at the top of the league, getting six wins and 18 goals from seven matches.
His Leicester side secured promotion back to the Premier League on 26 April 2024. They later became Championship champions on 29 April following a 3–0 away victory over Preston North End. He was awarded with another EFL Manager of the Month in April, his fourth in the season, for collecting 15 points in seven games.
