MANCHESTER: Enzo Maresca left his post as Chelsea head coach on Thursday after a reported deterioration in his relationship with the Premier League club’s hierarchy.
The Italian coach was midway through his second season in charge. In his first season, he won the Conference League and Club World Cup.
Last month, Maresca said he had experienced his “worst” 48 hours at Chelsea and expressed his unhappiness at a lack of support at the club, but didn’t go into specific reasons.
Chelsea is in fifth place in the Premier League, but has won just one of its last seven league matches, and has advanced to the English League Cup semi-final, where it will play Arsenal over two legs.
“With key objectives still to play for across four competitions including qualification for Champions League football,” Chelsea said in a statement, “Enzo and the club believe a change gives the team the best chance of getting the season back on track.” Chelsea is coming off a 2-2 home draw against Bournemouth in the league on Tuesday, and next plays second-place Manchester City away on Sunday.
The club said Chelsea’s achievements under Maresca “will remain an important part of the club’s recent history, and we thank him for his contributions to the club.”
There was no immediate word on his potential successor, with Chelsea seeking a fifth fulltime manager since the takeover of the club by American investors, fronted by Todd Boehly, in May 2022.
In the past 3 years, Chelsea has spent hundreds of million dollars in what looked from the outside a chaotic bid to sign players to refresh its squad. It now has one of the youngest and most talented squads in the Premier League, with star players including Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Estevao, but managers have struggled to get the players to gel as a team after so many changes.