Enzo Maresca: The new Chelsea boss who led Leicester back to the Premier League

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Enzo Maresca has been confirmed as the third permanent appointment in Todd Boehly’s tumultuous two-year tenure at Chelsea following the departure of Mauricio Pochettino.

The 52-year-old Argentine left after failing to agree the extent of his responsibility within what is a heavily layered management structure at Stamford Bridge.

Here, the PA news agency looks at his replacement’s background and whether the Italian will be a better fit in west London.

Player career

Chelsea’s new head coach began his professional playing career at West Brom in 1998, playing under Denis Smith and later Brian Little.

Arriving speaking little English, he made 47 league appearances for Albion before returning to Italy to play for Juventus, where he never established himself as a first-team regular, instead becoming a journeyman midfielder who would to 10 clubs in three countries. the next 17 years before retiring in 2017.

Go to coaching

After a spell as coach at Ascoli in Serie B, he took over Manchester City’s elite development team in 2020, where they won the Premier League 2 title the following year, before accepting his first managerial role at Parma, which he did not guide to promotion in the Series. A before he was fired.

In the summer of 2022, Maresca was brought back to England by Pep Guardiola, who named him number two when former assistant Juanma Lillo moved to Qatar.

Championship success with Leicester

Following the Foxes’ relegation from the Premier League, it was announced that Dean Smith, who had taken over following the sacking of Brendan Rodgers and had failed to keep the club in the top flight, would no longer be retained, so Maresca was given his first place . managerial role in England with brief to gain immediate promotion.

Despite a rout in the season opener, during which the team looked in danger of losing what had been a 14-point lead in the race for promotion, Maresca’s side eventually secured a top-two finish, with two games to go.

What kind of coach is he?

He is seen by the Chelsea hierarchy as someone who can work within the structure implemented by the club over the past two years, where the head coach has a limited tenure with little say over recruitment or other footballing appointments.

At Leicester he won the Championship title with a strong possession-based style, which is seen as a preferable way to play given the player profile of Chelsea’s recruits since Clearlake Capital bought the club.