Enzo Maresca follows Pep Guardiola. Few such heirs lasted past two seasons.
Manchester City confirmed Enzo Maresca as Pep Guardiola's successor on 29 June, on a three-year contract. He inherits ten years and 20 trophies.
What happened
City confirmed Maresca on a three-year deal; the Italian apologised to Chelsea supporters for his mid-season exit and will pay part of the compensation himself under two confidential settlements.
Pep Guardiola left Manchester City after ten years and 20 major trophies, the most successful manager in the club’s history. He asked people not to ask why he left. There was no reason, he said, but deep inside he knew it was his time. He stays in the City Football Group as a global ambassador.
City announced Enzo Maresca as the new manager on . He had resigned from Chelsea on New Year’s Day, 18 months into the job and six months after winning the Club World Cup.
In autumn 2025 Maresca had told Chelsea that City had approached him about one day taking over from Guardiola. British media reported the compensation deal at about £17m.
City have not waited for the new manager to buy players. They have already signed Zadok Yohanna from AIK for £24.2m, Pascal Struijk from Leeds for £20m, Costinha from Olympiakos for £11m and Rodrigo Rêgo from Benfica for £3m.
Maresca’s first competitive game is on , the Community Shield against champions Arsenal in Cardiff. The league season starts six days later.
Sources: Sky Sports (2, 3), Manchester City, ESPN (2), Al Jazeera, Premier League
The Pattern
We looked at English clubs that replaced a manager who had been in charge for nine years or more. We found five, and four of the new managers were gone within two seasons. The one who lasted longer, Bob Paisley at Liverpool, had been the assistant of the man he replaced.
Show the other 3 cases
The Read
History is against a long stay. Four of the five men who took over from a long-serving English manager were gone within two seasons. Maresca’s supporters see him as the next Bob Paisley. He coached City’s youth team, sat beside Guardiola as senior assistant during the domestic treble season of 2018-19, and plays a similar style of football. The people in charge of buying players and running the football side did not leave with Guardiola.
The weak point is that the failures were also insiders and chosen heirs. Sir Alex Ferguson hand-picked David Moyes, and Wilf McGuinness was promoted from within, and both were gone inside 18 months. Maresca himself walked out of Chelsea in the middle of a season after one league win in seven. The standard he inherits is 20 trophies in ten years, and five cases is a small record.
The market asks about spending, and there City have moved early. Four signings are already confirmed, and one more large deal would take the summer total past £100m by .
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