Man City close to appointing Maresca as manager: what the post-Guardiola era means

Manchester City confirmed on Monday that the club is close to appointing former assistant coach Enzo Maresca as head coach. According to BBC Sport, the club and Maresca have agreed personal terms on a three-year contract; an official announcement is expected in the coming days. This is the decision that ends the Guardiola era at Manchester — a tenure of 13 trophies since the summer of 2016.

Italian manager Maresca is a familiar name for City supporters. He spent the 2022-23 season at the Etihad as an assistant to Guardiola, the season City won the treble (Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League). Maresca then took over at Leicester City, won the Championship, and moved to Chelsea in 2024.

Maresca's spell at Chelsea was mixed. In 2024-25 he achieved a fifth-place finish in the league, the UEFA Conference League title and a Club World Cup final appearance; but he struggled to manage Stamford Bridge's demanding fan base and the late-season exclusion of Cole Palmer from the squad. In May, the club and Maresca parted ways over what was described as «philosophical differences».

Guardiola had extended his contract at City until 2027, but in March he told the leadership that «it was time to renew». In his decade-long tenure at the club, the Catalan manager won six Premier League titles, four FA Cups, four League Cups, two Champions Leagues and a Club World Cup. After his last match in the Champions League final, he said: «I feel I need a different place now».

Maresca's style is close to Guardiola's. Positional play, possession-heavy structures and the «inverted full-back» system, in which a defender steps into midfield, were used both at Leicester and at Chelsea. That means it can be made compatible with City's existing squad.

But there are differences. Compared with Guardiola, Maresca prefers slower, more patient possession; Chelsea fans sometimes found it «boring». City's squad — including Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Rodri and Bernardo Silva — has been built around high-tempo attacking pressure.

Club legend Yaya Touré told the BBC: «Maresca was Guardiola's assistant, so the players know how he works; that smooths the transition. But every manager wants a new identity; success will depend on striking a balance without erasing his own mark».

The process led by Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and City Football Group partner Ferran Soriano considered three other candidates besides Maresca: Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe, Sporting Lisbon manager Rúben Amorim and former Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick. The Maresca pick suggests internal philosophical continuity was valued in the negotiation.

Maresca's start will also shape City's transfer plans. The club continues to negotiate a contract extension with Erling Haaland; in midfield, reports of interest in Real Madrid's Federico Valverde have surfaced. There is also interest in Bayer Leverkusen's Piero Hincapié at left-back; but ESPN reports this transfer is in competition with Real Madrid.

The first match of the season for City is on 16 August against Crystal Palace in the opening week of the Premier League. The roughly six weeks between Maresca's start and that date will be critical for restructuring the squad and a pre-season camp. The first six weeks of the season will provide the first real assessment of the new era.