There are few more thankless tasks in football than succeeding a manager who has defined an era. David Moyes found that out the hard way at Manchester United in 2013 when he replaced the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson. Whoever steps into Pep Guardiola’s shoes at the Etihad Stadium- now that it’s confirmed that he is leaving the club, will face a version of the same challenge, and one magnified by the scale of what the Spaniard has achieved during his tenure with the Citizens.
Guardiola won a whopping 20 trophies during a decade long stay at City that transformed them into one of England’s most successful clubs.
Those who bet on upcoming fixtures in the online football betting markets, will have noticed the name most consistently linked with that role was Enzo Maresca, and the case for him is a compelling one, even if some questions remain.
The Guardiola connection
Maresca is not an outsider arriving cold into an unfamiliar system. He served as Guardiola’s assistant during City’s treble-winning 2022-23 season, working closely with the coaching staff that built and refined the methods now embedded in the club’s DNA.
Guardiola himself described Maresca last December as one of the best managers in the world, a tribute that carries obvious weight given the source. The expectation from City’s hierarchy is that Maresca represents continuity of philosophy rather than a tactical overhaul, a manager who understands the system and can maintain it while making it his own.
A proven track record
Maresca arrived at Chelsea via Leicester City, where he won the Championship title in his first season as a top-level head coach, earning immediate promotion back to the Premier League. At Chelsea, his first year brought Champions League qualification, the Conference League, and the Club World Cup, a trophy haul that would represent a successful tenure at most clubs.
Several Chelsea players, including Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella, have spoken warmly about his methods since his departure, suggesting the dressing room relationship was not the source of his problems at Stamford Bridge.
The Chelsea exit
Maresca’s departure from Stamford Bridge in January was abrupt and publicly explosive. Reports emerged that he had twice held talks with figures linked to Manchester City about the prospect of succeeding Guardiola while still under contract at Chelsea, a revelation that made his position untenable. He left with three and a half years remaining on his deal, a situation that could yet complicate any City move given outstanding contractual obligations.
The manner of his exit should not, however, obscure what it represented: a manager who had delivered silverware, maintained Champions League status, and was performing reasonably well before a breakdown in relations with the ownership forced an early conclusion. This was not a sacking driven by poor results. It was a fallout between a manager and a board, one that most accounts suggest was as much the club’s making as his.
The question
Whether Maresca can fill the void left by Guardiola is ultimately unknowable in advance. Guardiola’s 10 years at City produced six Premier League titles, a Champions League, and 20 major trophies in total, a benchmark that no successor can reasonably be expected to match immediately. What City need is not a replica of Guardiola but a manager who understands the squad, respects the philosophy, and can keep a top-four club competing for major honours in a post-Guardiola era. On the evidence of his career to date, Maresca has the credentials to do exactly that.