Chelsea have parted ways with Mauricio Pochettino and are in early talks to appoint Enzo Maresca as they move quickly to find his successor.
“Chelsea have agreed to appoint Enzo Maresca as their new manager,” Fabrizio Romano, a journalist who is well versed in European soccer news, reported on social media on Monday (Aug. 28).
The Italian journalist is well-known among soccer fans as a journalist who is active on social media and reports on transfer rumors and interviews with various clubs and players. He is also known for using the phrase “Here we go” when a player’s transfer or re-signing seems to be finalized.
He believes Chelsea are close to making an official announcement on the appointment of Leicester City manager Maresca ahead of the 2024-25 season.
“Chelsea have agreed to appoint Enzo Maresca as their new manager,” Romano said, adding, “The deal is understood to be a five-year contract valid until June 2029, with an option to extend the contract until June 2030.”
“Chelsea will pay Leicester a compensation fee,” he added. He recently reported that Leicester want at least €10 million ($14.8 million) in compensation for Maresca.
Chelsea, who finished sixth in the Premier League in the 2023-24 season, surprised fans by parting ways with Pochettino, who signed a three-year contract last summer, shortly after the end of the season.
After suffering their worst year ever last season, finishing 12th in the league, failing to qualify for European competition and finishing outside the top 10, Chelsea have appointed Pochettino, who has extensive Premier League experience, as their new manager ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Pochettino has been recognized for his leadership in the past with successful stints at Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur. In the 2018-19 season, he shocked everyone by leading Spurs to the UEFA Champions League final for the first time in the club’s history.
In January 2021, he took charge of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), but was sacked ahead of the 2022-23 season. He then took a year off before returning to the field to take over at Chelsea.
Since Pochettino’s appointment, the Blues have spent an astronomical amount of money in the transfer market. According to Sky Sports, the Blues spent a whopping £419 million ($695.3 million) on their 12 summer signings. The £115 million they spent to sign Ecuadorian midfielder Caicedo set a new Premier League transfer record.
However, Pochettino has failed to live up to the club’s expectations. This 메이저사이트 season, he led the team to a sixth-place finish in the league with 18 wins, nine draws, 11 losses, and 63 points. The sixth-place finish secured them a spot in the UEFA Europa League next season, but Manchester United won the FA Cup to qualify for the Europa League and will play in the Europa Conference.
The parting of the ways between Chelsea and Pochettino was not unexpected. The Blues dropped out of the title race early on due to poor performances throughout the season. Their performances were so poor that they hovered around the top 10 for most of the season.
Eventually, they rebounded at the end of the season to finish as high as sixth, but Pochettino’s future at Chelsea was quite uncertain. On April 22, the Blues mutually agreed to terminate Pochettino’s contract and begin the search for a new manager.
With a number of managers on the shortlist, Chelsea made a quick decision. They settled on Maresca, who led Leicester City back to the Premier League, to succeed Pochettino.
Maresca began his coaching career as head coach of Ascoli (Italy) after retiring from playing for Hellas Verona (Italy) in 2017. Soon after, he gained experience as head coach and technical coach at Sevilla under Vincenzo Montella.
In 2018, he joined Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham United (England) team as head coach, and in the summer of 2020, he got his first taste of head coaching when he took charge of the Manchester City (England) U-23s.
However, his first professional managerial job, at Parma (Italy), was unsuccessful. Maresca left the club after six months as Parma finished 14th (W4 D5 L5 D17) in Serie B (2nd Division) in the 2021-2022 season.
After taking a year off, Maresca joined Pep Guardiola’s City as head coach in the summer of 2022, where he spent the 2022-2023 season. That season, City won the 토토사이트 triple (Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League).
Maresca then returned to professional coaching as head coach of Leicester City, who were relegated to the second tier ahead of this season. Under Maresca’s leadership, Leicester won the Champions League early and returned to the Premier League a year later.
Maresca’s impressive leadership in the Championship immediately put him on the radar of several big clubs with managerial vacancies, with Chelsea being a particular target. The Blues are said to be so impressed with Maresca’s leadership skills that they have offered him a five-year contract, with the hope of keeping him on board for the long term.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s imminent appointment of Maresca has been met with mixed reactions from fans. While Mourinho has done well in the Championship, he has never managed a big club like Chelsea in his career, nor has he ever managed a top-flight club.
As such, some fans have expressed concern that he could become the next Graham Potter. Chelsea sacked Thomas Tuchel last season and signed Porter to a five-year contract after he took charge of Brighton, but the former Brighton boss, who had never managed a big club before, left the club after just seven months in charge, blaming poor results for his departure.
While Chelsea are targeting a top-tier finish next season, the appointment of Maresca is widely considered a gamble. It’s already starting to be interesting to see how the Blues’ bold decision will pay off next season.