Maresca ‘already in talks’ with Man City amid a ‘growing expectation’ Guardiola will leave | OneFootball

Former Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca is ‘already in talks’ to take over from Man City boss Pep Guardiola in the summer, according to the latest reports.

The Citizens beat Burnley 1-0 to go top of the Premier League on Wednesday evening after months of chasing down rivals Arsenal.

Man City are now level on points with the Gunners, but with a better goal difference, as both sides head into the final five Premier League matches of the season.

There have been rumours for much of the season that Guardiola is likely to call time on his Man City spell at the end of the season despite having one more year on his deal.

It had looked likely that Man City could end the season without a trophy earlier this term – but their turnaround in form means they could end the campaign with a Treble.

Guardiola’s side already have the Carabao Cup in the bag, beating Arsenal at Wembley in March, but they now have a realistic chance of winning the Premier League, while they face Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup semi-finals on Saturday.

If Man City go on to win the Treble it could be the perfect time for Guardiola to depart, and now Ben Jacobs and Alex Crook at talkSPORT are reporting that there is now ‘a growing expectation’ that the Catalan departs the Etihad in the summer.

Jacobs wrote on X: ‘Exclusive: Enzo Maresca is free to sign for any club after resigning from #CFC. Now a growing expectation Pep Guardiola leaves this summer with Maresca a leading candidate for the role. @TalkSPORT can reveal Maresca’s exit terms could require compensation to Chelsea, yet it’s up for legal interpretation from both sides.

‘Chelsea can’t block or delay Maresca starting work. And any new club the Italian joins will not have to pay Chelsea anything directly or wait for #CFC and Maresca to resolve his contractual obligations even though they are still in place following his departure from Stamford Bridge.’

Maresca ‘already in talks’ with Man City

Before Jacobs and Crook added in their exclusive on the talkSPORT website that Maresca is ‘already in talks’ with Man City about taking over from Guardiola.

Former Chelsea head coach Maresca ‘is the clear front-runner to replace him and several well-placed sources have indicated high-level talks between the Italian and City have already taken place’.

The report adds: ‘Maresca is now understood to be optimistic on finding work this summer with a return to City likely if Guardiola decides to call time on his trophy-laden tenure.’

Italian newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport insists that Guardiola could consider taking over the Italy national team job in the summer and ‘will be happy to listen’ to their proposal.

The Italy job is a ‘gamble that attracts him’ and, with his ‘first objective is to slow down’ once he leaves Man City, a national team job could definitely be on the cards.