Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter

Manchester City players are enjoying some down time in the off-season and are not scheduled to return for pre-season until 20 July.

The club and new manager Enzo Maresca fly to Hong Kong the following week where they will play Inter Milan in a friendly on Saturday, 1 August.

They then head to Seoul in South Korea where they have two further friendlies planned against the K-League All Stars on 5 August and Atletico Madrid four days later.

City play Arsenal in the Community Shield on Sunday, 16 August at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

Now Enzo Maresca is finally in position at Manchester City, what will the next month or so hold?

Sure Enzo Maresca would take Arne Slot's first-season bounce, at least.

Aside from working closely with Pep Guardiola, Maresca has played for some big-name managers.

Most notably, he played under current Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti and former Italy coach Marcelo Lippi at Juventus.

Maresca also played for former Man City boss Manuel Pellegrini at Malaga, who was, and still is, in charge of Real Betis - the team Maresca's Chelsea beat in the Conference League final.

Image source, Getty Images

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter

During his final pre-match news conference last month, then Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was asked to give some words of advice to his successor.

"Be themselves," said the Spaniard. "A manager has to be himself. Unique.

"The club will be there to support him unconditionally. Like they have done it to me, they will do it to him and his staff."

Gary Neville
Former Manchester United defender on Sky Sports News

If he [Enzo Maresca] can get the buy-in from the squad, he's got a really good chance of doing something. I don't think Pep's left him with an ageing team, I think he's left him with a young team with plenty to go at.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Sport asked Manchester City fans how they felt about the appointment of Enzo Maresca as the club's new manager.

Manchester City

Enzo Maresca has long been regarded by the club as a candidate within our succession planning. As a former successful coach within our system, Enzo has a strong relationship with the Club’s leadership and he understands how we work and evolve.

We can confirm that confidential conversations took place between select representatives of City and Enzo Maresca in Autumn and Winter of 2025, while he was Chelsea FC’s Head Coach, regarding the possibility of him returning to City in a transitional leadership coaching capacity should Pep Guardiola decide to leave.

We acknowledge Chelsea’s statement regarding the context of Enzo’s departure from Chelsea. We also acknowledge the context in which permission for discussions was given, and we recognize that his departure mid-season was disruptive to Chelsea’s season.

Once terms were agreed with Enzo Maresca, Manchester City and Chelsea FC reached a mutually agreed settlement under which Chelsea FC will receive compensation.

Thumbs up if you are with Greg, thumbs down if you agree with Graham. Like a virtual arm wrestle...

The new boss is in town.

Image source, Manchester City

Image source, Manchester City

Image source, Manchester City

Image source, Manchester City

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has been open and honest in his assessment of Enzo Maresca, with the Italian returning to the club following two previous stints - firs with the academy and then alongside Pep Guardiola as his assistant coach.

Khaldoon said: “He is one of Pep’s assistants at one point in his career so definitely - he will tell you - he is going to have taken a lot of inspiration in the philosophy of Pep, and you see that in his football.

"But he has also evolved his own philosophy. I think Enzo brings a lot to this club. Honestly, I am very excited about Enzo and I think the fans will appreciate him as a manager, his football philosophy, his football and how the team is going to perform and go from strength to strength with Maresca’s leadership.

"I think it will be a great addition to the team. This is a big challenge - this scares off many people. The beauty with Enzo is he actually wants that challenge, he loves that challenge.”

Image source, Getty Images

Pep Guardiola has previously said about Enzo Maresca: "One of the best managers in the world, Enzo Maresca, I know him quite well, but the job he has done at Chelsea does not get enough credit.

"Winning the Club World Cup, Conference League, qualification for the Champions League in a league that is so tough with a young team. It is exceptional.

"I recognised his Chelsea team from day one, even when we played them in the summer camp in the States.

"Many things I started to see that we spoke about many, many times in the last years together. Really good.

"I'm very pleased. I was a lucky man to work with him in the last years, and everything that happens with his family and him being fine, then I'm fine. I'm happy for him."

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

In line with the agreed strategy when Enzo Maresca moved from Leicester City in 2024 - for which the club paid £10m - the Italian focused on coaching while those above him oversaw much of the backroom staff, medical department and transfers.

Maresca knew what he was signing up for in terms of the transfer policy - signing the world's best young players from 'lesser' leagues to create the youngest team in the Premier League - and his issues were not with the quality of players or the strategy, but about the perception of his work with a young group. Maresca also did not expect decisions on team selection to be influenced.

Last season, he and his agent had informed the club on two occasions of interest from Manchester City. Chelsea noted it came at a time when City boss Pep Guardiola had said Maresca was the best manager in the league.

Maresca had also notified the club of interest from Juventus, as well as his willingness to stay despite interest from two of Europe's biggest clubs.

He indicated speculation would end if he was handed a new contract. He was only 18 months into his initial deal and contracted until 2029.

Difficulties remained in his working relationship with the Chelsea ownership.

The Italian was encouraged to rotate his squad, but often felt that when he did so in the Premier League, they dropped points. He openly urged reporters to question the club's hierarchy but there was frustration each time Maresca sought to make his complaints public rather than discussing internally first.

He later admitted his comments after the Everton match were premeditated - rejecting the club's claim they were an emotional outburst after a tense match.

Shortly before leaving Chelsea, these were the cryptic comments Enzo Maresca made about the club following a win against Everton.

Maresca said it was "the worst 48 hours" since he arrived and suggested that he and his team had lacked support.

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter

Both Manchester City and Chelsea have acknowledged the disruption caused by Enzo Maresca's mid-season departure from Stamford Bridge.

The Blues were fifth in the table when the Italian departed but Liam Rosenior's appointment as his replacement turned out to be a disastrous move, with Chelsea ending the campaign in 10th and without European football next season.

That has put financial strain on the club and the compensation figure paid by City to Chelsea has become the headline for Maresca being appointed as boss.

It has been pointed out that the Blues themselves paid Brighton in excess of £21m in compensation to bring in Graham Potter and his staff in September 2022, but the Englishman was sacked after less than seven months in charge.

Sources have said the focus shouldn't be put on City paying compensation to Chelsea, but rather the acquisition of a top-class manager.

The end of the accounting period is fast approaching this week, so Chelsea's financial situation could be laid bare in the next few days.

Academy defender Trevoh Chalobah has been linked with a move to Serie A side Como and his sale would help towards the profit and sustainability (PSR) costings.

Chelsea

3 June 2024: Chelsea appoint Maresca on five-year contract after the Italian leads Leicester to the Championship title

15 December 2024: Maresca leads Chelsea to seventh consecutive win in all competitions as they move up to second place in the Premier League, but the Italian says they are "not ready" to win the title and have to be "realistic"

25 May 2025: Chelsea finish fourth in the Premier League and secure a place in the Champions League after a two-year absence

28 May 2025: Chelsea, as was widely expected before the season, win the Europa Conference League, beating Real Betis 4-1 in the final

Image source, Getty Images

13 July 2025: Chelsea win the Club World Cup for the second time, beating Champions League winners Paris St-Germain 3-0 in the final

15 August 2025: Maresca says he wants Chelsea to sign a centre-back with Levi Colwill injured, but the club prefer an "internal solution"

13 December 2025: Maresca says he has had his "worst 48 hours" at the club after a 2-0 win over Everton

30 December 2025: Maresca does not do post-match media after 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, with the club saying he is ill

1 January 2026: Maresca and Chelsea part ways.