Chelsea's stance on Enzo Maresca to Man City after Pep Guardiola quit fears emerge

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Enzo Maresca is being linked with the Manchester City job should long-term manager Pep Guardiola leave his role at the Etihad Stadium come the end of the season

Chelsea are declining to comment on Manchester City's reported interest in making Enzo Maresca their new manager should Pep Guardiola leave at the end of the season.

There is a growing anticipation that Guardiola will depart the Etihad Stadium in the summer as he closes in on a decade in charge of the Manchester club. City are said to be considering their options should Guardiola exit, with Maresca, who worked in the blue half of Manchester previously, someone of big interest.

The Chelsea head coach worked with City's Under-23s for the 2020/21 season before departing to become Parma boss. After leaving the Italian club after just a few months there, Maresca took a bit of time out before returning to City in June 2022, where he was Guardiola’s assistant manager for the treble-winning 22/23 campaign.

City have kept a close eye on Maresca and the job he has done at Stamford Bridge over the past 18 months, which includes a Conference League trophy and winning the inaugural revamped version of the FIFA Club World Cup.

Guardiola was on the record describing Maresca as "one of the best" coaches in world football earlier this month: "One of the best managers in the world, Enzo Maresca, I know him quite well, but the job he has done at Chelsea does not get enough credit.

"Winning the Club World Cup, Conference League, qualification for the Champions League in a league that is so tough with a young team. It is exceptional."

There has been some unrest at Chelsea in recent days, with Maresca publicly calling out a lack of support internally at the club after the weekend's win against Everton.

The Italian declined to go into specifics regarding the comments but it is said to have left some club officials stunned. These comments now make a bit more sense when you consider the interest from City, but Maresca has a long-term contract at Stamford Bridge that runs until 2029, with the option of extending that deal by a further 12 months.

Chelsea and Maresca will sit down at the end of the season to conduct a collective review to assess their two campaigns working together, as was the case with Mauricio Pochettino, albeit his was after one term.