May 27, (THEWILL) – Leicester City have granted Chelsea formal permission to engage in discussions with their manager, Enzo Maresca, over the vacant head coach role at Stamford Bridge. This move comes after Chelsea identified the Italian as their leading candidate to succeed Mauricio Pochettino.
On Monday, Chelsea made an official approach to Leicester, and they are now poised to hold talks with the 44-year-old manager. The discussions are expected to result in a contract spanning a minimum of five years. Leicester will receive compensation for the impending move, which is anticipated to be completed this week.
Maresca joined Leicester ahead of the 2023/2024 season and promptly guided them to the Championship title, ensuring their return to the English Premier League at the first attempt. Other candidates considered for the Chelsea job included Kieran McKenna, who led Ipswich Town to promotion, and Thomas Frank, whose work at Brentford drew admiration.
Chelsea initiated their search for a new head coach after the club and Pochettino mutually agreed to part ways last week, following a review of the team’s performance. The process of identifying Pochettino’s replacement has been led by co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, ultimately settling on former Manchester City assistant Maresca as their preferred option.
Maresca’s credentials include working under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, where he was part of the backroom staff during the team’s treble-winning season in 2022/2023. He also worked alongside Manuel Pellegrini at West Ham United in 2018 and had a short stint with Parma in Italy’s second tier at the start of the 2021/2022 season. If the move materialises, Maresca will become the sixth manager since the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital-led takeover of Chelsea in 2022.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
