Enzo Maresca has decided to resign as Chelsea head coach, on the grounds that he feels his position is no longer suitable. In that context, Maresca's confusing statements earlier this month are said to be aimed at the club's medical staff.
Maresca left Chelsea on New Year's Day, after the relationship between the two sides cracked. A series of disappointing results - The Blues only won 1 of their last 7 Premier League matches - made them 15 points behind leading Arsenal, becoming a key factor pushing the situation to an end.
In the list of replacement candidates, Liam Rosenior of Strasbourg emerged as the top choice. Notably, Strasbourg is a Ligue 1 club owned by BlueCo - Chelsea's parent company.
Chelsea is considered difficult to pursue options like Oliver Glasner, Cesc Fabregas, Andoni Iraola or Roberto De Zerbi, while Rosenior is currently considered the number one candidate for the hot seat.
Before Maresca took the initiative to leave, Chelsea had considered the possibility of sacking him due to poor performance, media statements, disagreements with the medical department, as well as rumors related to the possibility of him moving to work at another team.
The mystery of the "48 worst hours" comment has been solved
After a 2-0 home win against Everton in mid-December, Maresca surprised the media when he admitted that he had just gone through "the worst 48 hours" at the club, and said that "many people did not support us".
In subsequent appearances, the Italian captain refused opportunities to clarify the above statement, making the story even more difficult to understand. However, the final bottleneck was also revealed. Maresca is said to have had disagreements with Chelsea's medical department about assessing the fitness and ability to play of some players during the period he held the team.
A hot spot in the controversy related to the management of the number of minutes played by captain Reece James - a player with a history of hamstring injuries - when Maresca and the medical team did not agree on the level of risk as well as the usage plan.
From Chelsea's side, this is seen as a difference of opinion surrounding the professional recommendations of the medical team and how the club manages training volume, not whether any party interferes in the professional decisions of the head coach.
Regarding the information that Maresca may be interested by other teams, Maresca and his agent are said to have informed Chelsea about the attention from at least two Champions League teams in recent months. However, they also emphasized that Maresca has no intention of leaving and is ready to discuss the possibility of extending his contract.
However, because Maresca already has a long-term contract until 2030 - newly signed in the summer of 2024 - Chelsea does not want to open another round of extension negotiations, thereby avoiding creating a foothold for third-party negotiations.
Maresca's last match leading Chelsea was a 2-2 draw at home against Bournemouth. In this match, he faced fierce reactions from the audience, including booing and shouts "I don't know what I'm doing" after the decision to withdraw Cole Palmer from the field.
Chelsea are currently ranked fifth in the Premier League and are on track to qualify for the Champions League knockout round. This month, they will enter the third round of the FA Cup against opponent Charlton, before facing Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
