Manchester City have struck a deal with Chelsea that will allow them to appoint Enzo Maresca as their new coach. The Italian will succeed Pep Guardiola, who left last month after 10 years at the Etihad.
Maresca's Journey to the City Job
Maresca has been in City's sights for a while and has been the No.1 choice for months since it became apparent that Guardiola would not see out his contract. Former City assistant Maresca has been out of work since leaving Chelsea in January and had turned down other interest to prioritise landing the City job.
That part worked out, although Chelsea demanded compensation for the way in which Maresca left and their season took several turns for the worst after that. Negotiations weren't expected to take long but have dragged on over weeks to leave a vacancy in the City hotseat.
Breakthrough in Negotiations
However, it is understood that there has finally been a breakthrough in negotiations with City set to hand over an eight-figure sum to Chelsea. That will clear them to appoint Maresca ahead of their pre-season as they look to move on from the Guardiola era. City declined to comment.
Pre-Season Plans and Early Fixtures
Maresca will start work in Manchester next month before taking what will be a young squad to Asia for three friendlies, one in Hong Kong and the other two in South Korea. They will then travel to Cardiff for the Community Shield against Arsenal, with Wembley unavailable on that weekend.
City begin their Premier League campaign with a home game against Bournemouth on the opening weekend of the season. They will host Chelsea on the weekend of December 12 in what will likely be Maresca's first game against his former employers.
