Manchester City is pushing to finalize Enzo Maresca as their new manager before July, but a messy compensation fight with Chelsea has turned what was supposed to be a simple handoff into a full-blown legal headache.
The timeline started clean enough. Pep Guardiola ended his decade-long run at the Etihad with an emotional farewell. City’s brain trust quickly zeroed in on Maresca — a former assistant who knows the club’s DNA — and reached a three-year agreement in principle back in May. That’s where the smooth part ended.
Chelsea threw a wrench in the works by demanding upward of $12 million in compensation, arguing that Maresca was still technically bound by contract clauses even after his exit from Stamford Bridge. At one point, Chelsea threatened to file an official complaint with the Premier League over an alleged illegal approach. That threat has since cooled. Over the weekend, Chelsea sources confirmed they won’t try to sabotage the move. Instead, both clubs are hammering out a financial settlement.
Italian media reported Monday that the two sides have agreed on a figure around the €20 million mark. Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke told the Transfer Insider podcast that the holdup is now just paperwork.
“I think officials from the clubs are working hard to agree a suitable package,” O’Rourke said. “And I think once that’s finalised, you’ll see this move for Maresca confirmed. It’s just the finer details I think that need to be sorted as well in that respect.”
He added that City wants this done before the end of June, before players return for preseason in July. “There’s no worries from the City side,” O’Rourke said. “They still feel that they can get this deal done with Maresca as soon as possible.”
What Comes Next for Maresca
Once Maresca is officially in place, his first task will be preseason training — though he’ll have a thin squad to work with, given the number of City players competing at the ongoing FIFA World Cup in North America.
On-field action starts in early August with a three-game Asia tour. City will face Inter Milan in Hong Kong, then take on K-League All Stars and Atletico Madrid in Seoul, South Korea.
The first competitive match comes in the 2026 Community Shield against Arsenal in Cardiff. After that, City opens the Premier League season at home against Bournemouth on Sunday, August 23.
Maresca’s path to the job was never supposed to run through a courtroom. But here we are. The only question now is whether the paperwork clears in time for him to actually run his first practice.
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