Man City chairman backs Enzo Maresca to thrive after £17m Chelsea compensation deal

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has backed Enzo Maresca to lead the club “from strength to strength” after the Italian was confirmed as Pep Guardiola’s successor on a three-year deal, with City paying £17m in compensation to Chelsea for his services.

Maresca, 46, is no stranger to the Etihad, having previously served as City’s Under-21 coach before returning as Guardiola’s assistant. That familiarity played a central role in the club’s decision to pursue him, with conversations reportedly beginning while he was still Chelsea manager during the 2024-25 season.

Chelsea are said to believe Maresca was so eager to take the City job that he was prepared to leave Stamford Bridge before his contract expired, resulting in a messy departure at the end of 2025. City’s willingness to absorb the £17m compensation fee underlines how highly they rate him.

“I think Enzo brings a lot to this club,” Al Mubarak said. “I’m very excited, honestly, about Enzo and I think the fans will appreciate him as a manager, his football philosophy, his football and how the team is going to perform and go from strength to strength with Maresca’s leadership. I think it will be a great addition to the team.”

The chairman also pointed to Maresca’s appetite for pressure as a key quality. “This is a big challenge — this scares off many people. The beauty with Enzo is he actually wants that challenge; he loves that challenge,” Al Mubarak added. “Enzo is very known to us and we’ve always been, I would say, very, very attracted by his football, by his mind, by his humanity. He’s another very, very special individual and we’ve seen him evolve as a manager.”

Replacing Guardiola after a decade of unprecedented domestic and European success represents one of the most daunting briefs in club football. City’s decision to turn to a manager with deep institutional knowledge — rather than a high-profile external appointment — signals a belief that continuity of philosophy matters as much as pedigree.