Official: Chelsea FC Confirms Maresca as New Manager

Enzo Maresca, who once learned from Pep Guardiola, is now taking over at Chelsea as the head coach.

He’s leaving Leicester, a team that just moved up to the Premier League, after they won the Championship. Chelsea and Maresca agreed on a deal worth about £9 million. He’s taking Mauricio Pochettino’s place, who left Chelsea after a year. We’ll get to see Maresca officially step into his new role later this week.

Maresca has committed to Chelsea for five years, with the chance to stay on for another year. He’s also bringing a team of six helpers, including his right-hand man and ex-Chelsea goalie Willy Caballero. Danny Walker, Michele De Bernardin, Marcos Alvarez, Javier Molina Caballero, and Roberto Vitiello will join Chelsea’s current team to help out.

Maresca is the sixth manager to join Chelsea under the ownership of Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali, and Jose Feliciano, and that includes some temporary managers.

Maresca shared his excitement, saying, “Joining one of the world’s top clubs, Chelsea, is a dream for any coach. I’m thrilled about this chance. I’m eager to work with the talented players and staff here to keep Chelsea’s winning ways going and make our fans happy.”

The owners of Chelsea are happy to have Maresca on board. They said, “We’re excited to have Enzo join our Chelsea family. We’re ready to back him and the team to reach their full potential and meet our high expectations in the coming years. He’s a top-notch coach and leader, and we believe he can help us achieve our goals for the club.”

Before Chelsea, Maresca led Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad and won the Premier League 2 title with players like Cole Palmer and Romeo Lavia. He also managed Parma in Italy but was let go after six months.

Maresca returned to City to work with Guardiola before becoming Leicester’s boss last summer. Even with some financial troubles at the club, Maresca helped Leicester win their way back to the Premier League, finishing first in the Championship.

Leicester said they’re sad to see Maresca go but thanked him for getting them back to the Premier League for the 2023/24 season.

Maresca isn’t new to English football; he started playing here in the late ’90s with West Brom. He’s also played for big teams like Juventus, Fiorentina, Sevilla, Olympiacos, Malaga, Sampdoria, and Palermo.

There were rumors Maresca could’ve gone back to manage Sevilla, but he chose to stay in the Premier League.

Now, Maresca’s job is to help Chelsea do better after some tough years. Pochettino had a hard time after taking over from Frank Lampard, but he managed to turn things around, and Chelsea finished sixth in the Premier League, getting into the Europa Conference League for the next season.

Chelsea’s sports directors, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, are already planning transfers with Maresca, and his arrival means they’ll be moving forward with those plans quickly.

Tosin Adarabioyo is about to join Chelsea for free from Fulham. He’s Maresca’s first new player, and after his medical check this week, we might see some players leave Chelsea too.

Chelsea says they’ll follow all the Premier League’s financial rules. They might sell some players fast before the June 30 deadline for the league’s financial regulations.

Armando Broja might leave Chelsea for good, with Wolves, Monaco, and Bologna all trying to sign him. Some German clubs and other Premier League teams are also interested in the 22-year-old, who was on loan at Fulham.

Ian Maatsen is likely to leave too, making his loan move to Borussia Dortmund permanent.

Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah might also be on their way out. Selling these two players from Chelsea’s own training program will count as pure profit for the club.