Manchester City are close to completing a deal to appoint Enzo Maresca as head coach, according to Sky in Italy.
It is being reported a verbal agreement has been reached between all parties, with Sky in Italy saying City will pay Chelsea more than £17m (€20m) in compensation to make Maresca Pep Guardiola’s successor at the Etihad Stadium.
Sky in Italy also reported on Monday that Maresca is due to travel to Manchester in the next 24 hours to sign a three-year contract.
Manchester City and Chelsea did not comment when contacted by Sky Sports News.
Maresca, who departed Chelsea on New Year’s Day by mutual consent, has been out of work since leaving Stamford Bridge.
City have been in talks with Chelsea about compensation for Maresca, who left Chelsea still with three-and-a-half years left on his contract.
He led the Blues to the UEFA Conference League and Club World Cup titles during his one full season in charge, and left the club fifth in the Premier League table on January 1 – five places above their final position of 10th.
Maresca previously served as Guardiola’s assistant during Man City’s treble-winning season in 2023, having also led the club’s Elite Development Squad to the Premier League 2 title in his single season at the helm in 2020/21.
Guardiola left the Etihad at the end of the 2025/26 season after 10 years in charge, during which time City won 17 major trophies. They missed out on the Premier League to Arsenal in 2025/26, meaning Guardiola failed to win a league title in back-to-back seasons for the first time in his managerial career.
Chelsea’s stats in their only full season under Enzo Maresca
Analysis: Why do City need to pay Chelsea compensation?
Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol:
“Maresca isn’t the Chelsea manager and he hasn’t been since the start of the year. When he walked out of Chelsea, he still had three and a half years on his contract. Chelsea believed he was contacted about the City job in the autumn of 2025 and that had a negative impact on their season, and that is why Chelsea have been involved.
“The news has not been confirmed by Man City or Chelsea. We do expect Maresca to become the City manager pretty quickly.
“I think he is the outstanding candidate to take over from Pep Guardiola. He has worked at City before and was an assistant on his staff when they won the treble.
“It is a tough act to follow, and I don’t think Enzo Maresca is going to achieve what Guardiola achieved, but he has clear principles, which are aligned with how City want to operate and play.
“It was a risk for Chelsea to appoint him. He had not managed in the Premier League and was with Leicester City. But his time at Chelsea was a success. He got them back into the Champions League, won the Conference League and the Club World Cup.
“But there were problems behind the scenes; he didn’t see eye to eye with the leadership team. Issues were bubbling away.”
Analysis: City hopeful of seamless transition from Guardiola to Maresca
Maresca was said to be very involved in Man City training during his time as Pep Guardiola’s assistant
Sky Sports News’ Ben Ransom:
“In terms of Maresca’s fit and his credentials for Man City, he feels like a sensible choice for the club because this is obviously a long-term project. The foundations were laid years before Pep Guardiola ultimately became the manager. He was the man they always wanted. They had his trusted right-hand man, Txiki Begiristain, and others he’d worked with at Barcelona already in place when they were finally able to bring him over and make him manager.
“That was 10 years ago, so of course City have been looking to the future. There was always going to be a time when Guardiola left. Maresca is someone who knows the club very, very well. I think there is a feeling he could fit in quite seamlessly. He won Premier League 2 with the development side before going off and becoming a manager in his own right. That didn’t quite work out at Parma, so he came back and was part of Pep’s coaching staff as his assistant when Manchester City had their best season in their history.
“In 2022/23 they won the treble: the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the crowning glory in Istanbul, winning the Champions League for the first time.
“Maresca has gone on to increase his own stock by bringing Leicester City back to the Premier League, then going on to Chelsea, winning the Club World Cup and being viewed relatively favourably, certainly by the players there, even if some of the fans at times were a little uncertain about his football.
“When you look at the squad City have built over the last couple of seasons – a new, fresh squad – there’s a feeling that Maresca has the capacity to fit in quite seamlessly at a club he knows and take that squad forward again.”
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