Enzo Maresca promises to 'maintain' Pep Guardiola's style of football at Manchester City
Updated 29/06/2026 at 19:13 GMT+1
React to this story
Former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has explained why he was chosen to replace Pep Guardiola as the new Manchester City head coach, claiming he is going to stick to the same playing style which helped the club dominate English football for the best part of a decade.
‘The reason I’m here’ – Maresca out to emulate success and style of Guardiola
Video credit: SNTV
The successor to Guardiola, who left the club at the end of the 2025/26 season after 10 trophy-laden years at the helm, was finally confirmed on Monday after a compensation package was agreed with Chelsea.
Maresca, who has signed a three-year contract, worked as Guardiola’s assistant at Man City before taking over as manager of Leicester City in 2023.
His acrimonious spell at Chelsea resurfaced prior to his announcement as the new City boss, with the Stamford Bridge club releasing a barbed statement which detailed the Italian's abrupt departure from their perspective.
During his first in-house interview at his new club, Maresca focused on the future - and explained why his return to Eastlands made sense.
He said: "Probably the reason why I’m here is also because the idea from the club is to maintain the same style of football, the same idea, and we’re going to try to do the most important thing in football, which is trying to win, to achieve important things.
"Then day-by-day is also going to dictate the way I will work. It’s a huge challenge for many reasons.
"All the success over the last 10 to 15 years, but at the same moment it’s a nice challenge. It’s exciting because the target is to continue or carry on the last decade or the last years when everything was very nice."
Guardiola left Man City at the end of the 2025/26 campaign after winning 20 trophies in 10 seasons at the club, including the Emirates FA Cup in his final year.
Maresca won the Championship in his first season with The Foxes but left in the summer of 2024 to join Chelsea.
The 46-year-old won the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup with Chelsea before leaving his role on January 1, 2026.
Maresca's first competitive match in charge will come against Arsenal in the FA Community Shield on 16 August, before he begins his Premier League campaign a week later at home to Bournemouth.
”Manchester City is a club I know very well and to have the chance to manage this team is a brilliant opportunity for me,” he said in a club statement.
”City is an incredibly well-run football club. Everything they do is innovative, planned and purposeful. For a manager, that is a dream situation. It provides the consistency I need to do my job effectively.
”This will be my third spell here. I know this club, I know the demands and I know the expectations.
”The quality of the people who work here is what makes it so special, and I want to thank them for showing faith in my ability.
”I cannot wait to start coaching the players. I want us to win, play good football and enjoy the pressure of representing Manchester City.”
Man City may have won the FA Cup in Guardiola’s final season in charge, but they have failed to win the Premier League in back-to-back campaigns, having lifted the trophy in four consecutive seasons between 2021 and 2024.
- Which Premier League players are out of the World Cup?
- Ancelotti refuses to entertain Japan 'mind games' ahead of last-32 showdown
- Comparison made to Vinicius incident as Marsch left fuming by penalty call - but was it right?
They finished second in the Premier League table last term, seven points behind champions Arsenal.
Maresca left Chelsea amid reports that his relationship with the club's board had broken down.
Following the announcement that Maresca had been named Man City manager, Chelsea released a statement of their own, revealing that "confidential settlements" had been reached with the Italian as well as their Premier League rivals.
The statement said that both Maresca and Man City would pay Chelsea compensation.
City subsequently issued an additional release, admitting that they had approached Maresca at the end of 2025, and confirming that they would pay Chelsea compensation.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/06/28/image-59c85613-b2d1-4bd5-9989-e46db016042b-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
'Every day is difficult' - Martinez says Portugal want to win the World Cup for Jota
Video credit: SNTV
Add TNT Sports as a preferred source here to enjoy more content like this.
Stream the Premier League, men’s and women’s FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League and more live on TNT Sports and HBO Max
Related Topics
Advertisement
Advertisement