![\"Enzo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2.82851684.jpg\")
Enzo Maresca left Chelsea midway through last season (Owen Humphreys\/PA)<\/p>\nThe 46-year-old Italian, who resigned as head coach at Stamford Bridge midway through last season, has signed a three-year contract at the Etihad Stadium.<\/p>\n
It ends weeks of speculation regarding him replacing Pep Guardiola, who stepped down last term after winning 20 trophies during a glittering 10-year reign at City.<\/p>\n
A delay in his appointment centred around what Chelsea were owed as Maresca still had more than three years remaining on his deal.<\/p>\n
Maresca apologised for the disruption his departure caused and, according to Chelsea, has contributed financially to smooth his return to City.<\/p>\n
\u201cA confidential settlement has been reached with Manchester City, which includes the payment of compensation. A confidential settlement has also been reached with the former head coach under which he will pay compensation,\u201d said a Chelsea statement.<\/p>\n
It is believed the compensation package paid to Chelsea amounts to \u00a317million.<\/p>\n
Writing on Instagram, the new City boss said: \u201cAt the end of December 2025, I made the difficult decision to leave Chelsea.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision was only mine. My resignation from Chelsea opened a path for me to join Manchester City, which is a club I knew very well. I am ecstatic that I have now joined Manchester City.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recognise that my departure from Chelsea in the middle of the season caused disruption for the club and I apologise for that. It was neither my intention nor my wish.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was treated well by everyone at Chelsea and together we achieved great success and memories that I will always treasure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am grateful to the club, the owners and the fans for giving me the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enzo Maresca left Chelsea midway through last season (Owen Humphreys\/PA)<\/p>\n
Following Maresca\u2019s departure from Stamford Bridge, after a poor run of form and a breakdown in his relationship with the club\u2019s ownership, he was immediately installed as favourite to succeed Guardiola when the Spaniard announced he was to leave in the final week of the 2025-26 campaign.<\/p>\n
There had already been speculation linking Maresca with a possible return to City, where he was previously assistant manager, for several months.<\/p>\n
\u201cManchester City is a club I know very well and to have the chance to manage this team is a brilliant opportunity for me,\u201d said Maresca in a statement released by City.<\/p>\n
\u201cCity is an incredibly well-run football club. Everything they do is innovative, planned and purposeful. For a manager, that is a dream situation. It provides the consistency I need to do my job effectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will be my third spell here. I know this club, I know the demands and I know the expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Enzo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2.78792715.jpg\")
Enzo Maresca, right, and former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (Martin Rickett\/PA)<\/p>\n
Maresca served as Guardiola\u2019s number two during City\u2019s treble-winning 2022-23 season.<\/p>\n
As a manager he led Leicester to promotion to the Premier League in 2024 before guiding Chelsea to Conference League and Club World Cup glory the following year but faces a tough challenge in following the most successful manager in City\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said Maresca was \u201crejoining an organisation that is entirely in lock-step with his ambition and hunger for achievement and his return to Manchester City is therefore a welcome natural next step for both him and the club\u201d.<\/p>\n
City\u2019s chief executive officer Ferran Soriano pledged to give Maresca his full backing, saying: \u201cWe will ensure that he receives everything he needs to be successful here and we are all very much looking forward to seeing his positive impact on the next phase of the club\u2019s progress.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 46-year-old Italian, who resigned as head coach at Stamford Bridge midway through last season, has signed a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-230948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}