Chelsea Agree 5-Year Deal With Enzo Maresca As New Manager To Replace Mauricio Pochettino

Chelsea has agreed to appoint Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca as their new manager on a five-year deal, following the departure of Mauricio Pochettino from Stamford Bridge.

Football transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano announced on his X page on Tuesday that Enzo Maresca’s contract with Chelsea will run until June 2029.

The Italian manager will be the fourth permanent manager under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, who took over from Roman Abramovich in 2022.

Fans were shocked when Chelsea decided to part ways with Mauricio Pochettino at the end of the 2023/24 season, despite an improvement in the team’s performance.

Chelsea finished 6th in the table after only one defeat in 15 games, although they had spent some time in the bottom half of the table during the season.

Pochettino left the club by mutual consent, prompting Eghbali and sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley to begin the search for a new manager.

Candidates included Maresca, Thomas Frank, Kieran McKenna, and Roberto De Zerbi, but Enzo Maresca was ultimately chosen to lead Chelsea.

According to Romano, Maresca has signed a five-year deal with Chelsea, with an option for a sixth year, which could extend his tenure until June 2030. This reflects Chelsea’s long-term commitment to Maresca.

“Chelsea have agreed to appoint Enzo Maresca as new head coach, here we go! Understand the agreement is now done on contract valid until June 2029, five year deal. It will also include an option to extend until June 2030. #CFC, set to pay compensation fee to Leicester,” Romano tweeted

🚨🔵 Chelsea have agreed to appoint Enzo Maresca as new head coach, here we go!

❗️ Understand the agreement is now done on contract valid until June 2029, five year deal.

It will also include an option to extend until June 2030.#CFC, set to pay compensation fee to Leicester. pic.twitter.com/o8CsGF9Jcx

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 28, 2024

Maresca, who was previously an assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, led Leicester City to the Championship title and promotion to the Premier League.

Chelsea’s spending under the Boehly era has been significant, and they will reportedly have to pay between £8m and £10m to secure Maresca from Leicester City.

This fee is notable in the world of football managers and could be the fifth-largest fee ever paid for a coach, just behind Vincent Kompany’s £10.2m move to Bayern Munich and ahead of Arne Slot’s £9.4m move to Liverpool.

Enzo Maresca’s appointment comes barely one week after Mauricio Pochettino left Chelsea by mutual consent after one season at Stamford Bridge.