Manchester City hires Enzo Maresca as manager to replace Pep Guardiola

WASHINGTON: Enzo Maresca was hired as the successor to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City on Monday, with the Italian taking on the daunting task of replacing one of soccer's greatest ever coaches.

Maresca signed a three-year deal following a delay in the announcement while City negotiated with Chelsea, the Premier League rival he left in January, over a compensation package.

The 46-year-old Maresca was City's academy coach in the 2020-21 season and Guardiola's assistant in 2022-23 — the year the team won the Premier League-Champions League-FA Cup treble.

After that, Maresca joined Leicester, which he led to the title in the second-tier Championship in England before immediately joining Chelsea for what has so far been his only top-flight coaching job.

He was at Chelsea from June 2024 to January 2026, winning the Club World Cup and Conference League titles and also qualifying for the Champions League.

Maresca left at the start of January following a deterioration in his relationship with Chelsea's hierarchy, during a period when English media were already reporting that he had been lined up as Guardiola's eventual replacement at City. Maresca, who had a contract with Chelsea until 2029, played down those reports at the time.

Chelsea said in a statement Monday that Maresca's head had been turned by City's interest.

“In autumn last year, the club was informed by our former head coach that there might be an opportunity for him to succeed Pep Guardiola at the end of the season,” Chelsea said. “It became clear to us that it was his strong desire to succeed Guardiola and that he was fully committed to pursuing the opportunity, despite the fact he was under a long-term contract which he had no right to terminate.” Chelsea said it “felt let down” when he resigned “as we believed that his head and heart were focused on another club and another opportunity.” Maresca accepted that his departure from Chelsea “caused disruption for the club and I apologize for that.” “It was neither my intention nor my wish,” he added, while saying he was “ecstatic” to be joining City.

Now he has the near-impossible task of following Guardiola, who left City in May after a decade in which he won 17 major trophies — including the Premier League six times and a first Champions League title.

“Manchester City is a club I know very well and to have the chance to manage this team is a brilliant opportunity for me,” Maresca said in a City statement.

“City is an incredibly well-run football club. Everything they do is innovative, planned and purposeful. For a manager, that is a dream situation. It provides the consistency I need to do my job effectively.” City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said Maresca's preferred style of football suited the club.

“He is rejoining an organization that is entirely in lock-step with his ambition and hunger for achievement,” Al Mubarak said, “and his return to Manchester City is therefore a welcome natural next step for both him and the club.

“Enzo inherits a squad and football organization perfectly suited to reflect and evolve his brand of football, and we are all very much looking forward to seeing the impact he can have in building further on the club's success.” Tough act to followGuardiola was asked in his final news conference was City manager if he had a message to his successor, whoever that might be.

“Just be yourself,” Guardiola said. “The club will support you unconditionally, that's the biggest compliment.

“Be yourself … be free and your ideas and work a lot. Everything will be fine.” Still, replacing a long-serving managerial great often hasn't worked out well.

Alex Ferguson, who was manager at Manchester United for nearly 27 years, retired in 2013 and handpicked his own replacement — David Moyes. Moyes didn't last a season.

At Arsenal, Unai Emery replaced Arsene Wenger — who was coach there from 1996-2018 — and was fired after 18 months.

More recently, Arne Slot took over at Liverpool in the summer of 2024 after Jurgen Klopp's nearly nine years in charge and won the Premier League in his first season. His second season has been tough, though, with Liverpool finishing the recently completed campaign in fifth place.

City awaiting verdict in legal case with Premier LeagueMaresca joins City at a potentially testing time for the club, which is currently involved in a huge legal case with the Premier League.

City was charged by the league in February 2023 with more than 100 financial breaches, including providing misleading information about its sources of income. The case was heard by an independent commission between September and December in 2024 but no verdict has been reached.

Punishment could be as extreme as expulsion from the top flight. City has always denied the charges.

Guardiola has bequeathed a strong squad to Maresca, though. City won the domestic cup double — the English League Cup and the FA Cup — this season and ran Arsenal close in the Premier League title race by going 15 matches unbeaten in the league until a much-changed lineup went down to a final-round loss to Aston Villa in Guardiola's farewell game on May 24.

Reinforcements will be needed after the departures of stalwarts Bernardo Silva and John Stones, with England midfielder Elliot Anderson linked with City in widespread reports in the English media.