After working as assistant manager to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, Enzo Maresca guided Leicester City to the Championship title in his first season in charge and is now at Chelsea.

Maresca had a playing career spanning 11 different clubs in four different countries - Spain, England, Italy and Greece.

Maresca won Serie A and the Supercoppa Italiana while playing for Juventus, but his most successful years came with Sevilla, where he won the Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Cup twice in his four-year stay.

After stints as assistant manager at Ascoli, Sevilla and West Ham, the Italian coach's first role at Manchester City was in August 2020 when he was manager of their Elite Development Squad team.

After winning the Premier League 2 title with the development squad, he was hired as the new head coach of Parma, who played in Serie B in the 2021/22 season.

Despite working with players such as Gianluigi Buffon and Franco Vazquez, Maresca was unable to guide Parma into the promotion places and was dismissed on November 23, 2021.

In June 2024, Maresca became the sixth coach to have managed Chelsea since Todd Boehly assumed control of the club in May 2022.

 

Playing career: Youth days and first senior start

Maresca started his youth career with AC Milan at the age of 11 and stayed for three years until 1994. He then moved to Cagliari Calcio, where he remained for another four years.

At the age of 18, he made his senior debut with West Bromwich Albion in a 2-0 home defeat against Bradford City on September 20, 1998.

Maresca stayed in England for just over a year, making 47 appearances and scoring five goals, before returning to Italy with Juventus in a transfer worth £4.3m - a club record sale for Albion at the time.

 

First spell in Italy

Maresca joined the Italian outfit in the 2000 January transfer window but only played one Serie A game that season. However, he made 37 appearances and scored four goals at Juventus overall despite spending his first full season in Italy on loan at fellow Italian side Bologna.

He was a part of the squad that won the 2001/02 Serie A title before he went on loan to Piacenza Calcio, where he had his best season so far with nine goals in 31 appearances.

In the summer of 2004, he joined Fiorentina for a fee of €13m alongside Fabrizio Miccoli and Giorgio Chiellini in a package deal. Juventus held on to half of the players' rights and after Fiorentina just avoided relegation, The Old Lady bought all three back for about €6.7m.

It wasn't long though before he ended his spell in Italy and moved to Sevilla for a transfer fee of €2.5m in July 2005.

 

Sevilla and European success

Maresca was an integral part of Sevilla's UEFA Cup success in 2006, scoring three goals in 11 appearances, two of them coming in the final against Middlesbrough. In La Liga, he managed eight goals over the 2005/06 campaign.

The following season started with victory over Spanish rivals Barcelona, when Maresca's late penalty sealed a 3-0 win as they secured their first UEFA Super Cup.

Later in the season, Sevilla reached the UEFA Cup final again. Here, they faced Espanyol, winning on penalties after the score ended 2-2 after extra-time.

Maresca played the first half but would be an unused substitute in Sevilla's 1-0 win over Getafe in their Copa del Rey victory.

Maresca's goal contributions and appearances would go down over the next couple of seasons before he headed to Olympiacos for the 2009/10 season.

However, despite joining the Greek side for a fee of around €1.5m, he terminated his contract in August 2010. He went back to Fiorentina to maintain his match fitness before switching to Malaga in the December.

Second spell in Italy and retirement

In August 2012, Maresca returned to Italy with Sampdoria in a two-year spell with the club, making 16 appearances in all competitions.

However, in January 2014, he moved to Palermo after rarely featuring for the club in Serie A. Palermo were top of Serie B but in need of a playmaker, so the club brought in Maresca to help them secure top flight status. This he managed to achieve.

In his first Serie A season with Palermo, he made 19 appearances. He made his last appearance for the club in the May of the following campaign, scoring in a 3-2 win over Hellas Verona on the final day to secure survival in Serie A.

In his final playing season, he joined relegated Hellas Verona in Serie B, announcing his retirement at the end of the season via his personal Instagram profile.

At the age of 37, his playing time came to an end after a footballing career which spanned nearly 20 years.

Maresca represented Italy at all youth levels but never made his senior debut for the national side, despite his form with Sevilla from 2006-09.

Management career and working with Pep Guardiola

Maresca went into management as the assistant manager at Ascoli, working alongside Fulvio Fiorin in Serie B for 17 games.

He left this role in November 2017 to go back to his former club Sevilla, where he worked under Vincenzo Montella and Joaquin Caparros respectively.

Before his first role as manager, he worked as the assistant to former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini at West Ham in 2018. Maresca worked under Pellegrini for 64 games, his longest stint in management so far, before taking his first role as manager for Man City's U23s.

His first honour as a manager came when winning the Premier League 2 in the 2020/21 season.

Soon after he moved back to Italy to manage Parma in Serie B but was dismissed in November 2021 as the club were not competing for a promotion spot. Parma had expected more, particularly due to the return of legendary Italian goalkeeper Buffon, who started his career with the club.

In the summer of 2022, Maresca returned to Man City, where he went back to the role of assistant manager. Maresca enjoyed a successful season with Man City over 61 games. He was heavily involved in coaching a side that went on to win the Premier League after leapfrogging Arsenal in the latter part of the season.

The club also defeated fierce local rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final with a 2-1 win while his last game came in the 2023 UEFA Champions League final where Man City defeated Inter Milan 1-0 to claim the Treble.

In the weeks after, Maresca was linked with a move to newly relegated side Leicester City and was appointed manager on June 16, 2023.

Maresca hit the ground running at Leicester and swiftly steered the club to the top of the Championship, claiming the manager of the month trophy in August, October and December on the way.

Despite stumbling towards the end of the campaign, Leicester secured the Championship title after a 3-0 win at Preston on April 29, with a game to spare in the 2023/24 season.

 

Surprise switch to Chelsea

On June 3, 2024, Chelsea appointed Maresca as their new head coach on a five-year contract.

In what is the third permanent managerial appointment since Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium bought the club two years ago, Maresca was installed in place of Mauricio Pochettino, who left by mutual consent in May.

Maresca will be the sixth coach to have managed the first team since Boehly assumed control.

Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, Chelsea’s co-sporting directors, said: “We are delighted to welcome Enzo to Chelsea. He has proven himself to be an excellent coach capable of delivering impressive results with an exciting and identifiable style.

“Enzo has deeply impressed us in our discussions leading up to his appointment. His ambitions and work ethic align with those of the club. We thoroughly look forward to working with him.”

Maresca added: “To join Chelsea, one of the biggest clubs in the world, is a dream for any coach. It is why I am so excited by this opportunity.

“I look forward to working with a very talented group of players and staff to develop a team that continues the club’s tradition of success and makes our fans proud.”

 

Enzo Maresca's personal life

Maresca is married to Maria Jesus Pariente and together they have four children.

In an interview with Mediagol in April 2020, Maresca spoke about Covid-19 and the possibility of cutting player salaries.

He said: "In any case, I believe that sacrifice is necessary on everyone's part because the economic consequences after the scourge of Covid-19 will be important at all levels."

 

Enzo Maresca's net worth

Maresca's net worth or net income is estimated to be $1-8 million according to various reports.