Maresca sticks knife in to Chelsea owners with Man City rebuttal as ‘promise’ to be broken | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca did a poor job of his task to shut down Manchester City “speculation” on Friday, while he’s also stuck the knife in to Chelsea’s owners…

Maresca has been in the headlines a lot over the past week, and this is largely down to his own doing.

It’s been challenging to get a true reflection of Chelsea and Maresca over the past 18 months, as they have experienced many peaks and troughs during a period of inconsistency.

The head coach entered this season in a strong position after winning the Club World Cup, Europa Conference League and qualifying for the Champions League at the end of last term, but he has clearly felt undermined by Chelsea’s board in recent weeks.

After Chelsea’s latest run of bad results ended with a 2-0 win against Everton on Sunday, Maresca remarkably admitted he just had the “worst 48 hours” of his spell at Stamford Bridge.

This was surely a dig at Chelsea’s owners, with it since revealed the Blues boss’ ‘frustrations have been brewing for a while’. 

Wins against Everton and Cardiff City seemed to restore parity, but the next storm arrived days later as it was reported that Maresca is a leading candidate to replace Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in the summer. 

With murmurs of Guardiola being in his final year at the Etihad and disciple Maresca’s past links with Man City, this is an obvious link to make.

Maresca had his first chance to shut down these links, but his comments ensured that the noise won’t go away.

“It doesn’t affect me because I know it is 100 percent speculation and I don’t have time for these things,” Maresca told reporters.

“I have a contract here until 2029. My focus is just on this club and I am proud to be here.

“One week ago in Italy, it was the same with Juventus. I don’t pay attention to it.

“It’s important to understand why this news was there but it is just speculation. The Newcastle game is important and very difficult.”

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When asked whether he can ‘guarantee and promise’ that he will be ‘Chelsea’s manager next season’, Maresca responded: “Yes, absolutely. I have a contract until June 2029”.

Firstly, Maresca has opted for the oldest trick in the PR book for managers with his ‘promise’ to Chelsea supporters, which means very little in the grand scheme of things, as contracts mean virtually nothing and promises are often broken in today’s game.

Also, Maresca appeared to make his feelings towards Chelsea’s club chiefs apparent with his suggestion that “it’s important to understand why this news was there”.

Here, Maresca is clearly informing Chelsea that they need to recognise that he is performing well in his role, and that is why he is being linked elsewhere.

However, this only provides more evidence of the fractured relationship between Maresca and Chelsea, which is looking increasingly likely to end at some point next year.