Chelsea are ready to bet big on Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca (Picture: Getty)
Enzo Maresca appears to have won the race to succeed Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea, with the Blues reportedly ‘putting the finishing touches’ on a deal.
The west London club have been looking for a new head coach since they parted company with Pochettino at the start of last week, with a host of names vetted and interviewed.
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna – who finished second behind Maresca’s Leicester City in the Championship – briefly appeared to be the frontrunner.
But, with McKenna thought to be waiting for the Manchester United job, the shortlist was whittled down to two names: Maresca and Brentford boss Thomas Frank.
According to The Telegraph, Chelsea’s hierarchy have now chosen the Italian to lead the club and have requested official permission from Leicester to speak to the 44-year-old over a contract.
Maresca has a release clause in his deal which has increased following the club’s promotion to the Premier League and Chelsea will need to pay around £10million in compensation.
Despite the big price tag, Maresca is seen as the ideal fit for the squad and impressed Chelsea’s board during talks, with the west Londoners now ‘putting the finishing touches’ to the deal.
Maresca won the Championship title with Leicester (Picture: Getty)
Chelsea’s hierarchy have been looking for a young, dynamic coach who plays modern, progressive football and feel Maresca ticks all the necessary boxes.
The former Parma boss guided Leicester to 97 points and the Championship title, boasting the best defensive record in the league and also scoring 89 goals – a tally only bettered by Ipswich.
Maresca also overhauled the team’s style of play, advocating a possession-based game which averaged 62 per cent over the course of the season – second only to Southampton.
More Trending
He has close ties to Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, having been the club’s Elite Development Squad manager in the 2020-21 season.
That earned him the Parma job, though he lasted just 14 games and was sacked having won only four times, and he returned to City in the summer of 2022 as one of Guardiola’s assistants after Juanma Lillo left.
City enjoyed an historic campaign that year, finally winning the Champions League as they completed the treble.
Chelsea are keen to wrap up a deal for Maresca as quickly as possible and, if things go smoothly, his appointment could be confirmed by the end of this week.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Chelsea news, exclusives and analysis
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.