Maresca vows to stay at Man City for good after succeeding Guardiola on three-year deal

Enzo Maresca has been appointed Manchester City manager on a three-year deal, replacing Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium after a £17m compensation fee was agreed with Chelsea, where he departed part way through last season.

The Italian, who previously served two spells on City’s coaching staff, was Guardiola’s first choice successor and was personally recommended by the Catalan. Guardiola had appointed Maresca as his assistant during the treble-winning 2022-23 season before the Italian left to manage Leicester and then Chelsea, winning the Championship, the Conference League and the Club World Cup along the way.

“This is the third time – hopefully it’s the last time I come back and I don’t leave anymore,” Maresca said. “I’m very excited, very excited for many reasons. The first one is how big the club is, so this for sure has been one of the reasons why.”

Maresca had conversations with City about the role while still Chelsea manager, and he frames his appointment as a continuity hire. “Probably the reason why I’m here is also because the idea from the club is to maintain the same style of football, the same idea,” he said. “We’re going to try to do the most important thing in football which is try to win, to achieve important things.”

The scale of what he is inheriting is considerable. In Guardiola’s decade in charge, City won the Champions League, six Premier League titles, two trebles, three FA Cups and five League Cups. Maresca says matching that standard is the explicit goal. “The target is to continue or carry on the last decade or the last years that everything was very nice. It’s a huge challenge, for many reasons — all the success over the last 10 to 15 years — but at the same moment it’s a nice challenge.”

He is also anticipating a smoother transition than most incoming managers face. Maresca has an existing relationship with chief executive Ferran Soriano and knows several key players from his previous time at the club, including Rodri, Ruben Dias, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Nathan Ake.

“It’s much easier when you join a club or a place where you already connect with the people,” he said. “I know most of the people in terms of squad — I probably will find four or five players from the season the last time I was here. For any manager, joining a club where you already know the leadership group and people inside the building makes it much easier.”