Pep Guardiola sends clear Enzo Maresca message to Chelsea fans
With Mauricio Pochettino’s departure from Chelsea, Enzo Maresca is expected to step down as manager of Leicester City and be officially announced by Chelsea as the team’s new manager shortly.
After working as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City, Maresca made an impression at Leicester and led the team to automatic promotion from the EFL Championship in the 2023–2024 season.
Several elite teams expressed interest in hiring him as manager as a result of his achievement, but Chelsea is now the team that will do so.
Guardiola had a big impact on Maresca’s coaching philosophy, which emphasizes possession-based play and patience.
Maresca’s style made him an appealing candidate for the Chelsea owners, who were looking for a young, progressive manager to lead the team.
Maresca served as one of Guardiola’s assistant managers between 2022 and 2023 but it was his work with the club’s youth side that drew his biggest praise.
Guardiola praised Maresca, and predicted that he’d become an extraordinary manager like Mikel Arteta.
Guardiola said in May 2021: “We are delighted with Enzo Maresca, all the organisation he has done with the EDS [elite development squad], he showed he will become an extraordinary manager in the future. Extraordinary.
“I feel it. Like I felt it when I saw Mikel Arteta I see it with Enzo, [he] will be an extraordinary manager and he helped to develop many, many young players.”