The staff behind Enzo Maresca: The six move with him from Leicester to Chelsea

The roughly £10 million ($12.7 million) compensation Chelsea are paying Leicester City will secure them much more than just new head coach Enzo Maresca.

Six The Italy backs will also swap the King Power Stadium for Stamford Bridge, allowing Maresca to settle in new surroundings alongside some familiar faces. Back at Leicester, their next head coach will need a strong rebuild of his own coaching staff.

Assistant Manager Willy Caballero, First Team Coach Danny Walker, Goalkeeping Coach Michele De Bernardin, Fitness Coach Marcos Alvarez and Analyst Javier Molina Caballero will be part of Chelsea’s new day. Roberto Vitiello has also been hired to help transition Chelsea’s young players and prepare them for life in the first-team set-up. All six he had arrived in Leicester with Maresca 12 months ago.

Chelsea have already secured the arrival of Bernardo Cueva, a manager who joined from Brentford. Ben Roberts, the club’s global head of goalkeeping, and Hilario retain their positions in an expanded goalkeeping department.

of Maresca six the trusted staff members boast different backgrounds and skill sets, but they all have one thing in common: they are completely connected to Maresca’s footballing philosophy.

Willy Caballero, assistant

It will need no introduction to Chelsea fans. Caballero is the team’s highest-profile behind Maresca, and not just because of his glittering playing career, which has seen him lift trophies with Boca Juniors in his native Argentina, Manchester City and Chelsea.

While Maresca mostly patrols the technical area alone, the only member of his staff who occasionally joins him is Caballero.

As well as being Maresca’s sounding board, the 42-year-old was also Leicester’s manager and would turn up to give instructions when Leicester took or faced a free-kick. Cueva will handle those duties at Stamford Bridge, but Caballero will remain Maresca’s right-hand man.

Caballero joins Maresca in the Leicester technical area (Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)

He had to step up when the Italian, whom Caballero met when they were team-mates at Malaga in Spain, served a one-match ban against Ipswich Town after picking up three bookings.

Like Maresca, Caballero was influenced into coaching by Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola, having played under both managers during his 20-year career.

“We started together at Malaga (a season and a half in 2011 and 2012) and have stayed in touch ever since,” Maresca said of the No.2 in January ahead of the Ipswich game. “We’ve both worked with Pep and we see the game the same way in terms of how we want to play. That’s why he’s here.”

Danny Walker, First Team Coach

Walker met Maresca when they were youth coaches at Manchester City, where he coached from Under-9s upwards between 2014 and 2020, before helping Maresca with the development squad, helping them win the title Premier League 2.

In 2022, he joined Peterborough United as head coach in the professional development phase, responsible for overseeing the club’s under-21s alongside Ryan Semple, before joining Maresca at Leicester last summer.

Walker worked closely with many of Leicester’s players one-on-one, particularly in attacking areas.

Walker left Peterborough for Leicester (Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)

Michele De Bernardin, goalkeeper coach

De Bernardin replaced long-time goalkeeping coach Mike Stowell at Leicester and, although still only 46, the Italian has been coaching since he was 20, coming through the ranks in the lower divisions before joining Parma.

He was the goalkeeping coach when Maresca was appointed at Parma in his first managerial role and they remained friends even after he was sacked after just 14 games.

After a year with Sampdoria, he reunited with Leicester last summer.

De Bernardin with Leicester’s goalkeeper squad (Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)

He was instrumental in Maresca’s approach through his close work with young goalkeepers Mads Hermansen and Jakub Stolarczyk as they had to learn how to play as an 11th outfield player to suit Maresca’s playing philosophy .

De Bernardin’s jovial personality has endeared him to the rest of the Leicester staff at their Seagrave headquarters and he is seen as an innovative trainer, bringing fresh and original ideas to his sessions.

Marcos Alvarez, fitness trainer

A highly experienced fitness and performance coach, Alvarez worked at Sevilla, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow, Dnipro, Real Betis and Parma – where he met Maresca – before joining Leicester.

The Spaniard has worked closely with Matt Reeves, head of fitness and conditioning at Leicester since 2011.

After an injury-plagued season, Chelsea fans will be hoping that Alvarez can ensure that more of their talent is available to Maresca next season.

Marcos Alvarez warms up with Jamie Vardy (Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)

Javier Molina Caballero, first team analyst

Another highly experienced member of Maresca’s staff he met in Parma. The 51-year-old Spaniard is a key analyst who has worked with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Maresca puts a lot of emphasis on pre- and post-match analysis.

Javier Molina Caballero at Stamford Bridge with Leicester in the FA Cup last season (Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)

During the pre-season, his players can expect double sessions on the field, which are recorded and then briefed in the video analysis room. Caballero plays a key role in this work and in preparing the team for their upcoming opponents.

Roberto Vitiello, development coach

Vitiello’s playing career spanned seven clubs in his native Italy, his relationship with Maresca strained during their time as team-mates at Palermo from 2014-16. While at Siena, he was initially banned for four years for his role in the 2011-12 match-fixing scandal, with the ban reduced to nine months on appeal.

After his playing days ended, Vitiello joined Maresca’s staff at Parma and was assistant manager during his brief tenure there.

Maresca and Vitiello during their short stay in Parma (Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)

He took on a development coaching role at Leicester when Maresca went there last summer and has followed him to Stamford Bridge, where he will have a similar mandate – to help transition Chelsea’s young players and prepare them for life in the first. .. team setup.

(Top photo: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)