Maresca (centre left) worked with Guardiola at City (Picture: Lindsey Parnaby /AFP)
Enzo Maresca is poised to become the new Chelsea head coach with Pep Guardiola having already backed him to become an ‘extraordinary’ manager – comparing him to Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
Following Mauricio Pochettino’s departure last week, Maresca is set to take the reins at Stamford Bridge as the Blues look to find some stability in the dugout.
The 44-year-old is coming off a superb season at Leicester City, guiding the Foxes back to the Premier League in his first season in charge.
His time at the King Power Stadium was his second job in first-team management after a disappointing spell at Parma in Serie B. But the Italian will arrive at Chelsea having been backed to achieve great things by one of the game’s most revered coaches in Manchester City boss Guardiola.
Guardiola compares Enzo Maresca to Mikel Arteta
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.
In August 2020, Maresca joined City as the manager of their Elite Development Squad with the club’s Under-23 side winning the Premier League 2 under his guidance that season.
Maresca poised to become the new Blues boss (Picture: CameraSport via Getty Images)
Cole Palmer, Tommy Doyle and Liam Delap were among the youngsters he worked with that season with Palmer of course now playing an integral at his new club Chelsea.
After that title-winning season for the youngsters, Guardiola paid tribute to the work carried out by Maresca and his staff, comparing the Italian to another of his former protegees in Arteta – who also began his coaching career at Guardiola’s side before joining Arsenal in 2019.
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.’
Maresca won the Premier League 2 title with City (Picture: Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Guardiola’s comments will be music to the ears of Chelsea fans. Comparisons with Arteta will have obvious promise, with the Arsenal boss guiding the Gunners back towards Premier League title contention having turned the club around and rid it of deadwood in recent seasons.
But his body of work with young players will also be extremely encouraging given the array of bright talent on offer at Stamford Bridge in need of guidance and development after a troubled 2022-23 season.
Maresca’s relationship with Cole Palmer and Cesare Casadei
Having worked with Palmer at City, Maresca also coached one of Chelsea’s other prodigious young stars in Cesare Casadei. The Italian spent the first half of the 2023-24 season on loan at Leicester before he was recalled to west London in January.
Speaking after Casadei’s debut goal for Leicester against Cardiff back in August, Maresca said of the youngster: ‘I said to Cesare the only way to score a goal for an attacking midfielder is to be inside the box,’ said Maresca.
‘Everything in football happens inside the box. Cesare, one of his strengths is to arrive in the box.’
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