Enzo Maresca emerges as top Chelsea target to replace Maurizio Pochettono with Leicester braced for managerial approach
LEICESTER manager Enzo Maresca has emerged as a shock candidate to replace Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea.
Pochettino left Chelsea by mutual consent on Tuesday following talks with owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.
Club officials are now on the hunt for a new permanent manager ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
And SunSport understands Maresca has emerged as a top candidate.
Leicester are now braced for an approach from the Blues.
Maresca reportedly has an £8.5million release clause in his contract.
The 44-year-old took over at the King Power Stadium last summer following Dean Smith‘s departure.
He guided Leicester back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, winning 31 out of 46 Championship games.
However, some fans turned on him towards the end of the season due to a drop in form as Leicester stumbled to the title.
Maresca could be tempted to make the move given Leicester’s current financial situation.
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Meet Pep Guardiola disciple Enzo Maresca
Enzo Maresca is considered among the most exciting young coaches on the planet.
Born in Italy in 1980, he managed to guide Leicester to the Championship title in his first season as Foxes boss.
His management career started at Italian minnows Ascoli before he was snapped up by Man City in 2020 to manage their Elite Development Squad.
He guided the youth team to the Premier League 2 title in his one season working for the Citizens – with Cole Palmer in the side.
His first senior job was with Parma but he was sacked after just a few months after failing to impress.
Despite the team playing in Serie B and Maresca having an impressive squad he was unable to get them on course for promotion.
He returned to Man City and worked as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants for the 2022/23 season as they won the Treble.
He took over relegated Leicester last summer and made an immediate impact, with the Foxes winning the Championship title.
Maresca showed his dedication to the job by living at the training ground for the first two months after his appointment.
He’s considered something of a Pep disciple and has said: “For a coach, it’s important to have the mentality of a chess player.”
During his playing career he played under Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi – and alongside ex-Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi.
The Foxes stand accused of breaking spending rules during their last three seasons in the Prem.
That means they could potentially start the 2024-25 season on negative points.
The case has been referred to an independent commission, with a conclusion expected soon.
Before joining Leicester, Maresca worked for Manchester City as Pep Guardiola‘s assistant.
He played an important role in guiding the club to the Treble last season.
Maresca is one of several names linked with the Chelsea job.
Names in the frame
Kieran McKenna is also on the shortlist — but Brighton and Manchester United are keen on the Ipswich manager too.
The Tractor Boys have offered McKenna, 38, a blockbuster £5million-a-year new deal to keep him at Portman Road.
The contract, worth a whopping £96,000 a week, is QUADRUPLE his current £1.2m-a-year pay.
Co-owners Boehly and Eghbali want a ‘young, progressive coach’ to win trophies and get the club back in the Champions League.
Former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, Thomas Frank of Brentford and Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim are also under consideration.
SunSport understands Chelsea want a ‘yes man’ who is prepared to let co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stuart handle transfers.
Who could be the next Chelsea manager?
HERE are the seven names in the running to replace Mauricio Pochettino after his shock exit from Chelsea.
Roberto De Zerbi
The Italian left Brighton at the end of the season after a year and a half in charge. He was linked with a host of top jobs earlier in the campaign but a difficult run of results saw him fall out of contention for the likes of Liverpool. De Zerbi’s attacking, front-foot style would be popular at Stamford Bridge.
Kieran McKenna
The former Manchester United assistant has led Ipswich to back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League. That has seen his stock shoot through the roof and he may be tempted to jump ship for a big job.
Enzo Maresca
Maresca was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City and has worked wonders at Leicester, settling the ship to send the Foxes back to the Premier League at the first attempt. Appointing a Pep disciple has turned Arsenal into title contenders, so it could work for Chelsea too.
Hansi Flick
Flick was one of football’s most in-demand managers after winning the Champions League with Bayern Munich. But it all went wrong in his next role becoming the first manager ever to be sacked by Germany. Now he’s ready to return and could be a smart move for the Blues
Sebastian Hoeness
Chelsea fans may not have heard of him, but Hoeness is Germany’s next big thing. Hoeness has transformed Stuttgart from relegation candidates to the second best team in the Bundesliga, finishing above Bayern Munich. Only invincible Bayer Leverkusen got in the way of a miracle.
Michel
Michel Sanchez has worked wonders with little Girona in Spain. The minnows were right in the LaLiga title race at Christmas before watching Real Madrid shoot into the distance. But they ran illustrious Catalan neighbours Barcelona all the way for second and are guaranteed a spot on the Champions League. Reports in Spain say that has caught Chelsea’s attention.
Jose Mourinho
Still adored by fans at Stamford Bridge, who never warmed to former Spurs boss Pochettino, Mourinho would be a popular pick. Winner of three Premier League with the Blues across two topsy-turvy spells, could he be the man to take Chelsea back to the top?
The Tractor Boys are expecting an offer from Brighton for McKenna — with Blues and Manchester Utd having already made tentative enquiries over his availability.
McKenna has a dilemma with so many options to choose from.
Chelsea have been tracking him for some time and even though the club has a reputation for getting through managers at a rate of knots, they are still an attractive proposition.
A source said: “Chelsea are on another level and what if he is the one who can get it right for us?”
Brighton have been after him for the longest and it has been understood that a deal was close following the departure of De Zerbi on Sunday.
But sources there say that move “it is not as far as everyone thinks”.
United boss Erik ten Hag is set to be axed after Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester City and McKenna has admirers at Old Trafford following his stint as No 2 under former Red Devils bosses Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Stuttgart boss Sebastien Hoeness is another who has been in the frame to succeed Poch at Chelsea.
Chelsea are beyond a laughing stock
By Andy Dillon
CHELSEA’S longest serving manager under the club’s new owners has left by mutual consent.
The fact that Mauricio Pochettino lasted only 325 days underlines what a basket case of a club it has become.
You might expect a manager to lose his job after five games WITHOUT a win but only Chelsea could lose theirs after five wins on the spin.
When the supporters wrote an open letter to chairman Todd Boehly and his sidekick Behdad Eghbali in March, they expressed fears that their beloved Chelsea was becoming a ‘laughing stock on and off the pitch’.
It is way beyond that now with the departure of the manager who finally looked to be getting a tune out of a squad branded ‘£1billion bottle jobs’ just over two months ago as they crashed to defeat against Liverpool’s youth team in the Carabao Cup Final.
Read Andy Dillon’s full take on the sacking of Pochettino and what it means here.