Enzo Maresca has been confirmed as the new head coach of Manchester City, with the former Chelsea man completing what feels like a long-awaited move
Almost six months to the very day, Chelsea’s dramatic break-up with Enzo Maresca was confirmed.
While the public knew bits of what happened behind the scenes, the true story was still a secret until released on New Year’s Day. The month of December, mainly, led to Maresca’s position being placed in serious doubt.
Sources close to the situation described Maresca, at the time, as ‘unpredictable’. Yet the most predictable thing happened in the end with the Italian leaving. The former head coach seemed to, briefly, forget his position in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge. And if he didn’t forget, then he bravely – or stupidly, depending on how you view it – challenged the club’s hierarchy.
FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
Predictably, Maresca left his position. It was the start of a new year and for the former Blues boss, a period of uncertainty, perhaps. However, Maresca was more than aware of Manchester City’s interest. The one thing he didn’t know was if his close friend and former boss Pep Guardiola would be leaving at the end of the season.
Maresca held talks with Man City, as well as Juventus, while still in the head coach role in SW6. Sources close to the club said they thought Maresca was using the interest from the two clubs as leverage for a new contract. Chelsea chiefs were left furious with Maresca for his flirtatious behaviour in December.
The Blues felt as if Maresca’s actions were in breach of his contract at Stamford Bridge and the two clubs eventually reached a settlement where City will have to pay £17million. That was the main reason for the delayed announcement of Maresca, who has officially taken over at the Etihad Stadium until the summer of 2029.
Saying this, the players never felt a change with Maresca. When news of the Italian’s departure broke, sources close to the squad described the majority of them as ‘devastated’. Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernandez came out in the coming months and said, on the public record, about their love and admiration for the 46-year-old.
After ‘leveraging’ interest, Blues chiefs were left, as one source said, ‘astonished’, following his now-infamous “worst 48 hours” rant following his team’s 2-0 win – yes, win – over Everton on December 13. It is fair to say, tensions reached boiling point behind the scenes in the immediate aftermath of one of the most extraordinary press conferences you are likely to see.
While December was seemingly the start of the end for Maresca, you could actually trace it back a few months. Towards the end of the summer transfer window, Maresca was clearly furious with the sporting leadership team at Chelsea for not signing a new centre-back following Levi Colwill’s serious injury.
The Blues were aware Colwill would miss the majority of the campaign, at least, after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in the squad’s first pre-season training session. Yet Chelsea wanted Maresca to use his squad and find an internal solution.
“We are trying to find solutions internally, but the club know exactly what I think,” said a furious Maresca back in August. “I think we need a central defender, but we’ll see. We are looking for an internal solution but as I said, the club know exactly what I think.
“Last year, we played 64 games and we played 64 games with Levi and Tosin. Now Levi is out, the only one who can do that job [middle centre-back in a back-three shape] well is Tosin. It’s not just about being a central defender – a central defender, yes, but he has to be able to do that [specific role]. It’s different.”
Chelsea tried for Dean Huijsen, but the Spain international chose Real Madrid instead, but the west Londoners did not panic. Instead Chelsea decided to stick with what they have got rather than spending big money on a profile they were not 100% sure on.
Sources close to the Blues told football.london back in January that the narrative that Maresca was ‘denied’ a central defender is nonsense. Those on Chelsea’s shortlist were not available last summer but have since been discussed. Jeremy Jacquet of Rennes was one of those on the Blues’ list, although the French defender has since chosen Liverpool instead.
Either way, Maresca felt as if he wasn’t provided the tools to kick on at Stamford Bridge after an extremely encouraging 2024/25 campaign. A head coach feeling lost without power; something we see much more nowadays with that specific role massively prevalent in modern-day football.
Chelsea will be hoping that giving Xabi Alonso the power of being manager rather than head coach will prevent these sorts of problems appearing in the future.
As for Maresca, his new role in Manchester is set to suit him more, as long as he can have a similar amount of power than his predecessor Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium.
Gone are the days of football being 11v11 on the pitch. The politics and power struggle behind the scenes are where the real drama takes place.
