Enzo Maresca to Man City: Compensation negotiations ongoing with Chelsea for Italian to be Pep Guardiola's replacement
Enzo Maresca is widely expected to be named as Pep Guardiola's successor at Manchester City; the Italian was Guardiola's assistant when City won the treble in 2023 - and was most recently in charge of Chelsea
Wednesday 3 June 2026 16:43, UK
Manchester City are in talks with Chelsea about compensation for Enzo Maresca.
A deal is in the hands of each club's respective lawyers, who are involved after Maresca left Chelsea still with three-and-a-half years left on his contract in January.
City are hopeful of an agreement this week, as they look to appoint the Italian as Pep Guardiola's successor.
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Maresca's proposed three-year deal is not yet fully agreed. However, a contract is expected to be finalised in the coming days, as discussions centre around the timeline of his appointment, the make-up of his backroom staff, and other finer details.
Chelsea were informed by Maresca last autumn that he had been the subject of interest from City about eventually replacing Guardiola when he decided to leave, having worked under him as assistant coach during the 2022/23 season when City won the treble.
Will Maresca be a success at Man City?
Sky Sports' Paul Merson:
"I liked him at Chelsea. I thought he was a good manager. He's going into Man City, he's been there before, he's worked in the Premier League before. He knows some of the players at City. I think he ticks every box.
"He's not coming in trying to get used to the place, he's not coming into a league that he's never been in. I think he'll go in and settle quite nicely.
"They'll need a few players as well. But this is the problem: Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea all need players. There's not that many players around.
"Who's going to be able to produce and give the most money to these players?"
What's next for Guardiola?
Guardiola has previously spoken about international management and, when quizzed on whether he would ever consider taking the England job, again did not rule it out.
He said: "I don't have any absolute plan about my future. I stop to rest and go to recover the time that I missed with my kids.
"They are grown and there are many things I've not done I want to do. So I don't think for one second about anything related to football for the next years. I need to rest, I need to reflect.
"After, we'll see what happens. I don't have a plan, it's just to rest and do a lot of things I want to do I didn't do in the past - stupid things."
Asked what he meant by "stupid things", he said: "Nobody cares."
