From Chelsea to Manchester City: The Enzo Maresca Saga
Enzo Maresca was announced as the new manager of English Premier league club Manchester City on the club’s official website and social media accounts on 29th June 2026. Soon after, his former employers Chelsea FC issued a statement, mentioning the circumstances under which Maresca left the North London club. Maresca too posted a separate statement on his social media account, issuing an apology to the Chelsea fans.
Here we take a look at Maresca’s Man City connection, the statement issued by Chelsea FC and Maresca and the repercussions of his departure followed by how he could fare at his new club –
The Manchester City Connection
Enzo Maresca joined Manchester City as the manager of their Elite Development Squad in 2020 and he led them to a Premier League 2 title but left in 2021 to join Parma in Serie B. However, he rejoined in 2022 as an assistant-coach to Pep Guardiola. He was part of Guardiola’s backroom staff and played a vital role in their treble winning 2022/23 season.
Maresca again left Man City for championship club Leicester City in June 2023, got Leicester City promoted to the Premier League and joined Chelsea FC the next season. Maresca had a successful first season at Chelsea winning the UEFA Conference League and the prestigious Club World Cup while also ensuring Champions League qualification for Chelsea. However, the second season didn’t go as planned and after an inconsistent and dismal first half of the season, Maresca decided to mutually part ways with Chelsea in January 2026.
When Pep Guardiola announced that he was leaving Man City at the end of the season in May 2026, it was no more a speculation but an impending that Maresca will replace Pep at Man City. In June 2026, Man City announced Enzo Maresca’s appointment as the Man City manager.
The statements issued by Maresca and Chelsea FC and the repercussions of his departure
When Maresca left Chelsea mid-season, the general consensus amongst the Chelsea supporters was that there was a disagreement between the Chelsea management and Enzo Maresca which led to his dismissal but according to Maresca’s Instagram post, it wasn’t the case.
As per a recent statement issued by Chelsea, Maresca had been approached by his former club in December 2025 and he handed his resignation to the club as he wanted to join Man City with Pep Guardiola deciding to leave at the end of the 2025/26 season. Although Chelsea FC were not pleased with Maresca leaving in the middle of the season, causing unnecessary disruption to their season, they decided to part ways as there was no point in holding on to a manager whose heart was elsewhere. Chelsea FC accepted the resignation with an agreement for Chelsea to receive confidential compensations from both Man City and Enzo Maresca for his contract termination mid-season.
Enzo Maresca made a separate statement on his social media account accepting that it was his decision to leave mid-season. He also issued an apology to the Chelsea fans for disrupting their season. Although the message was later removed from his account, his message as posted by Skysports was as follows –
“”The decision was only mine. My resignation from Chelsea opened a path for me to join Manchester City, which is a club I knew very well. I am ecstatic that I have now joined Manchester City. I recognise that my departure from Chelsea in the middle of the season caused disruption for the club and I apologise for that. It was neither my intention nor my wish.”
When Maresca departed Stamford Bridge, the Blue were in fifth place with still a chance to secure a European berth. His departure forced Chelsea to bring in an inexperienced Liam Rosenior from Strasbourg FC. However, they had to let him go after a few months due to insipid and disjointed performances showing no improvement and drifting down the league table. Chelsea ended the season in 10th place, missing another season of European football which is not becoming of a top English club with a billion-dollar squad.
Will Maresca succeed at Manchester City?
Enzo Maresca is replacing the legendary Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, a manager who achieved unbelievable success with the club, dominated the league, won them a treble in 2022/23 season, won an unprecedented consecutive four league titles and impacted the league in ways no one could have imagined.
Maresca definitely has massive shoes to fill but he has the support of the Man City management. Man City already has a top-quality squad and will definitely replace the outgoing players with potential top-class players as they don’t have financial limitations. Maresca has already managed a big club in Chelsea FC, so he is aware about the challenges that come with dealing with big players, managing multiple competitions and expectations of winning major silverware every season. Although Maresca did fairly well with Chelsea FC in his first season, helping them qualify for the UEFA Champions League and winning major continental silverware, his league winning credentials may still be in doubt. He did win the EFL Championship title with Leicester City in the 2023/24 season but the level of competition in the Premier League is far superior and challenging.
Manchester City is still undergoing transition as two-three of their experienced players would need to be replaced this season. While Maresca is a great tactician, he hasn’t yet shown that he is a serial title winning manager like Guardiola and even with no dearth of resources available to him at the Etihad, we don’t believe he is capable of replacing Guardiola as a league winner just yet.
Maybe with a couple of seasons under his belt, he could turn Man City into a title winning team but as for now we have our doubts. Moreover, Maresca might not have the luxury of time and patience as the expectations from the Man City hierarchy would be extremely high being used to winning silverware every season. While Maresca has proven to be a good coach and could be great in winning cup competitions, we don’t believe he is an elite one who can continue to replicate the massive success that Guardiola brought to the Sky Blues.
