Manchester City close in on Enzo Maresca as Guardiola successor

Manchester City moved close to a defining succession decision, reaching a verbal agreement to appoint Enzo Maresca as Pep Guardiola’s replacement and preparing to pay Chelsea more than £17 million, about €20 million, in compensation. Maresca was due to travel to Manchester within 24 hours to sign a three-year contract, turning City’s search from speculation into a near-complete handover.

The choice reflects more than a routine managerial change. City have viewed Maresca as a stylistic continuation of the Guardiola project, someone who already understood the demands of possession football, positional structure and the control City have prized for a decade. That continuity matters because Guardiola’s departure closes an era that delivered 20 honours and forced City to confront the harder question of how much of his system can survive without becoming an imitation.

Maresca’s case was built on direct internal history. He served as Guardiola’s assistant during City’s treble-winning 2022/23 season, then coached the Elite Development Squad and won Premier League 2 in 2020/21. City also valued his work with younger players, including Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer, evidence that he could manage both elite expectations and squad development inside the club’s model.

Chelsea’s insistence on compensation delayed the final step. Maresca left Stamford Bridge by mutual consent on New Year’s Day 2026 with three-and-a-half years still left on his contract, after one full season that delivered the UEFA Conference League and the Club World Cup. He had taken Chelsea to fifth in the Premier League table when he departed, before the club finished 10th, a slide that sharpened the sense that both sides were ready to move on.

The pursuit had been building for months. Reports traced City’s interest back to late 2025, with speculation intensifying around Christmas and discussions about Guardiola’s successor already under way by then. Sporting director Hugo Viana identified Maresca as the leading candidate, underlining how deliberately City approached the transition. Guardiola’s exit, once formalized, will leave City trying to protect the structure he built while allowing the next manager to adapt it to a new cycle.