Enzo Maresca has started working on summer transfer activity and pre-season planning before his impending appointment by Manchester City.
The Italian is set to replace Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium, with the Catalan bringing to an end his glittering 10-year tenure.
Former Chelsea head coach Maresca left Stamford Bridge in January, a fortnight after The Athletic revealed he would be high among the candidates for the City job in the event Guardiola departed the club this summer, as he is now set to do.
And sources briefed on the situation, not authorised to speak publicly, say he has already been collaborating closely with sporting director Hugo Viana for pre-season, the new campaign and beyond in preparation to take over.
Maresca won the Conference League and the Club World Cup in his one full season in charge in west London and led the club to Champions League qualification.
The 46-year-old, who won the Championship title with Leicester City, has worked at City previously, coaching the club’s Under-21 side for the 2020-21 season and returning as a first-team assistant to Guardiola in the summer of 2022.
Guardiola has guided City to 20 trophies across a decade at the club, including the Carabao Cup and FA Cup this season.
After winning four successive Premier League titles between 2021 and 2024, with the 2022-23 campaign bringing the treble including City’s first Champions League trophy, the club have now gone successive seasons without a league title.
In 2024-25, City finished third and 13 points behind eventual champions Liverpool, before losing out to Arsenal this campaign.
His final game will come against Aston Villa at the Etihad on Sunday, on the Premier League’s final weekend of the season.
What kind of player suits Maresca’s preferred style?
Analysis by Chelsea correspondent Liam Twomey
Asked in a Chelsea press conference about Renato Veiga’s desire to play centre-back in January 2025, Maresca took the opportunity to set out his broader philosophy of the footballers he likes: “If there is a player that only wants to play one position, they have to adapt.”
Maresca values versatility in players, a level of game intelligence and skill that can transcend specialised positions when the opponent or the circumstances of the game demand it.
His goalkeeper must be prepared to play with the ball at his feet well outside his box. His full-backs must be ready to invert into defensive or even attacking midfield, as well as overlap or underlap in the final third. His centre-backs must be prepared to push deep into opposition territory to track their markers, as well as recover into the vast expanse of space behind them.
His midfielders must always know where the space and the free men are. His wingers must pick the right times to move infield and stay wide. His striker must know when to drop deep to receive the ball and link play, and when to run in behind or connect with crosses into the box.
Enzo Fernandez, Marc Cucurella and Pedro Neto in particular thrived. Levi Colwill and Moises Caicedo also excelled in a tighter structure, though Cole Palmer at times gave the impression of a player whose improvisational genius was being curbed.
Maresca will find plenty of suitable players at City. The likes of Nico O’Reilly, Josko Gvardiol, Marc Guehi, Matheus Nunes, Rodri, Jeremy Doku and Antoine Semenyo should adapt easily. Others — perhaps even star names like Gianluigi Donnarumma and Erling Haaland — may find his football less than ideal for their skill sets.