Manchester City seem to have their man as they look set to appoint their next manager | OneFootball

Ever since Pep Guardiola stepped down as Manchester City manager, the expectation has been that former Leicester City and Chelsea manager would be City’s next manager. However, the announcement of Maresca as City manager has dragged on. Chelsea demanded compensation from City for the manner of Enzo Maresca’s departure from his post at Stamford Bridge. Also, Matt Hughes has reported for The Guardian that Chelsea believes that City made an illegal approach to Maresca and that the Italian manager breached his contract by speaking to City.

Now it seems that Enzo Maresca will be confirmed as City’s manager at some point this week. The wait for the Italian manager to take charge at the FA Cup and Carabao Cup holders may finally be over.

Manchester City have agreed on a settlement package with Chelsea that will finally see Enzo Maresca confirmed as City manager.

Paul Hirst and Peter Rutzler have reported for The Times that Enzo Maresca is set to be appointed as Manchester City’s manager this week. Furthermore, it is reported that Manchester City will pay Chelsea a compensation package of over £10 million to enable them to finally confirm Maresca’s appointment. The Times report states that Maresca had three years left to run on his contract with Chelsea, which meant that City had to pay the current FIFA Club World Cup holders compensation.

Also, it is reported by Hirst and Rutzler that AC Milan and Juventus were also interested in appointing Enzo Maresca as manager. However, the opportunity to take over from Pep Guardiola as Manchester City manager was too good an opportunity for Maresca to pass up. Lastly, it is reported that the City board were impressed with Maresca’s man management ability and his commitment to playing attacking football.

The path is now clear for Enzo Maresca to begin work at City and he looks to have the right philosophy to succeed.

Finally, the last obstacle preventing Manchester City from confirming Enzo Maresca as their next manager seems to have been cleared. City appear set to confirm Maresca’s appointment at some point this week and a new era at the club will finally have its manager.

One aspect of Paul Hirst and Peter Rutzler’s report about Manchester City being impressed about Maresca’s commitment to playing attacking football does fit the City mould. Maresca will be inheriting a City squad full of attacking talent. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had high praise for the attacking play of Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea side. In quotes relayed by Sky Sports after Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 in March of last year, Arteta said: “In my opinion, they are the best attacking team in the league. In open play? By a mile.”

Arteta added that Maresca was the reason why Chelsea were such a dangerous attacking side. He added: “Because of the manager they have. The stats say it and everything that I’ve seen say it.”

“They can open you up, they can run in transition, they have individual quality, any player in the defensive line can throw you in behind, they can combine on both sides, on weak sides.”

Manchester City are finally on the verge of confirming Enzo Maresca as their next manager. The formalities between City and Chelsea seem to be complete. Maresca will bring the type of attacking football that City want to play and it will be exciting to see what Enzo Maresca produces as Manchester City’s manager when he finally assumes the role.