Enzo Maresca’s strange Leicester City exit forces Khun Top’s unwanted challenge

After moving quickly to get their man, Chelsea have appointed Enzo Maresca and the Italian is leaving Leicester City after less than 12 months in charge of the club.

Maresca leaves the Foxes after guiding them back to the Premier League. His possession-based football and elegant approach worked wonders at the King Power Stadium, but there were always doubts and conversations many people didn’t want to have.

He will return to LE2 with Chelsea as one of the many ‘villians’ – not literally – swapping the royal blue of the Midlands for the capital. Danny Drinkwater, Ben Chilwell and Wesley Fofana have all made moves in the past and are not popular figures at Leicester.

READ MORE: Leicester City ‘disappointed’ by Enzo Maresca’s move to Chelsea – full statement

READ MORE: Next Leicester City manager – Graham Potter’s message is still clear as four favorites emerge in the hunt

He leaves with the best wishes from the clubs and supporters. But in all honesty, the feeling of the head coach who just won promotion to the top flight leaving is slightly strange. It is the first time a Leicester manager has left for another club while under contract since Nigel Pearson at Hull City in 2010.

This particular move came after a shady move by Milan Mandaric to bring Paulo Sousa to the club turned Pearson. Since then, Sven Goran-Eriksson, Nigel Pearson, Claudio Ranieri, Craig Shakespeare, Claude Puel, Brendan Rodgers and Dean Smith have all been sacked.

At no point is this article produced to criticize Maresca or to say “no one is bothered”. That would be untrue. However, there is no aura of disappointment or fear that the club is back to square one.

That will come down to who replaces the Italian. If the club get the next meeting right, the consternation of leaving Maresca out of the club is quickly fading and the support will be from the new man. However, if they don’t, next season could be really miserable.

Maresca leaves with a series of memorable moments. From touchline celebrations against Coventry City to ‘huge games’ at Leeds and having players on the run after promotion. His connection with supporters grew throughout the season and many credited him with reigniting the “feel factor” at the departed club.

But there’s just too much sour taste with this move. As reported elsewhere, the club are unhappy with Maresca’s willingness to jump ship at the first real opportunity and that feeling is certainly reciprocated with the supporters. The overall sentiment from the head coach is “thanks for the year,” but that’s about it.

Who will name the club next has not yet been decided. West Brom’s Carlos Corberan has emerged as favorite with Ruud van Nistelrooy, Steve Cooper and Graham Potter also linked. The decision is, to say the least, a big one.

Some of the names linked to the vacancy are slightly off-putting. City’s sister club OH Leuven, current boss Oscar Garcia, QPR’s Marti Cifuentes, Coventry’s Mark Robins and Arsenal manager Carlos Cuesta were greeted with mild displeasure.

Other names on Sky Bet’s list of potential head coaches, such as Maurizio Sarri, Esteban Cambiasso, David Moyes and Liam Rosenior, are more tempting but have only been mentioned because they are unemployed.

Khun Top has another meeting he needs to get right. The choice to bring in Maresca proved to be the right one, now is the time to put your faith in the club for him, however difficult it may be for their decisions in other departments.

What do you think of Enzo Maresca leaving for Chelsea? Have your say in the comments…