Maresca “strong candidate” for promotion to Premier League’s top job despite recent struggles | OneFootball

Chelsea are reeling from the back of another painful defeat, and their season seems to be heading back in the wrong direction again.

It’s not what Enzo Maresca wants, with the manager having kicked up a fuss a couple of weeks ago. His unhappiness led to speculation about his future, and that will only intensify if results don’t improve.

City job potentially lined up for Maresca

Enzo Maresca calls out instructions. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

The former Man City coached was linked with a return to his old club if and when Pep Guardiola leaves, and it doesn’t seem like recent bad results are changing that story. On CaughtOffside, they had Mick Brown quotes pointing to how things could be moving in that direction:

“Maresca is definitely a candidate if and when Guardiola leaves. He’s got strong connections at Man City, he knows the people, he’s been there and he’s worked there, so he’s in that mould that City want and like. That makes him a very strong contender, and he’d be a very good option for them,” the pundit said.

“I think he’s come out with a few questionable statements at Chelsea where nobody really knows what he’s hinting at, but he also won’t clarify. That leaves it open to conjecture and speculation, is he hinting that he’s not happy at Chelsea?”

We’re sure there are plenty of twists and turns in this story to come, but if Maresca is signalling he’s not happy at Chelsea and Man City are interested, things could happen pretty quickly in May.

In other news…

James McAtee is another talent Chelsea are apparently looking at, and despite his struggles this season it’s a move we can see the Blues making, given their current transfer model.

Reece James spoke to the club’s website after the game about how he and his teammates had failed to adapt to the changes made by Aston Villa midway through the game.