Enzo Maresca has started a new job as head coach of Manchester City. The Italian strategist is present at the club's training center this week to get acquainted with the new environment and begin preparing for the upcoming season.
However, Man City's leadership has not officially announced Maresca as Pep Guardiola's successor. Chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak is still negotiating with Chelsea about the compensation fee after the London team sacked the Italian coach in January.
While waiting to complete the procedures, Maresca did not waste time. He started working by studying the data of each player in the first team to build a pre-season training plan.
This plan will be implemented when the players return to gather next month. However, because the 2026 World Cup is still taking place in North America, many players will only return to Manchester after completing their national duties. Maresca is said to have reached an agreement to sign a 3-year contract with the Etihad Stadium team.
According to British media, the 46-year-old strategist will have a working session with senior club leaders next week to agree on goals and expectations for the new season.
In fact, Pep Guardiola made the decision to leave Man City from last summer. However, he kept this information secret and only a few close associates knew about the plan to leave Etihad. Meanwhile, Man City identified Maresca as the top candidate from about 6 months ago, when he was preparing to become a free coach after leaving Chelsea.
Guardiola closed a decade-long journey at the Etihad with 20 titles, of which the historic treble in 2023 is prominent. Therefore, Maresca will face great pressure when taking over the legacy left by his predecessor.
However, he also received a significant boost in the transfer market. Man City is said to have reached an agreement to recruit midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for a record fee for an English player, worth 116 million pounds and possibly increasing to 130 million pounds.
Besides, the Etihad Stadium team will also enter a new era when saying goodbye to some veterans under Guardiola. Bernardo Silva left the club to join Real Madrid after his contract expired, while John Stones also said goodbye to the team.
Strong support from the board of directors in the transfer market shows that The Citizens still set a goal to conquer all titles in the new season. If the Elliot Anderson deal is completed, along with other quality contracts, Maresca will have a force strong enough to compete in all competitions.
Of course, the success of the Italian strategist will not be assessed by his inheritance of what Guardiola left behind. Instead, it is the ability to create his own mark and open a new cycle of success for the Etihad home team.
