Enzo Maresca: Chelsea manager leaves with Blues fifth in Premier League
The Blues have won just one of their last seven league games and took just six points from six games in December to fall 15 points behind leaders Arsenal.
But results are only a small part of the story.
Maresca, whose contract runs until 2029, has delighted the likes of Stamford Bridge sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart and influential co-owner Behdad Eghbali by guiding Chelsea to a top-four finish and winning the Uefa Conference League and Club World Cup last year.
But success soon turned to bitterness in his relationship with the hierarchy.
Maresca stunned even his own team after Chelsea’s only Premier League win, a 2-0 win over Everton in December, when he said “many people” thought he had had his “worst 48 hours” since joining the club.
These comments came without any warning to club staff or senior management, who preferred any discussions to remain private.
However, in the months before this, friction had begun to increase.
Following the Blues’ success, Maresca hoped to raise his profile with opportunities outside the club. He was planning to publish a book before he was blocked, and spoke without the club’s permission at the Il Festival dello Sport event organized by La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper in Italy.
He has also publicly stated that he disagrees with the club not signing a centre-back after Levi Colwill injured his anterior cruciate ligament in pre-season. The club’s hierarchy explained that this could lead to academy candidate Josh Acheampong requesting a transfer, which could eventually lead to Maresca backing out.
The former Leicester manager also changed managers from manager Wasserman to Jorge Mendes and has been talked about as a potential successor to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, whom Maresca sacked.
In addition, he increasingly avoids wearing club tracksuits, preferring his own clothes instead.
After his last match against Chelsea (a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on 30 December), assistant manager Willy Caballero said that Maresca was not feeling too well to carry out post-match media duties, but it was understood that his absence was due more to his disappointment with the club.
And when Chelsea posted a 52-second video summarizing their year on social media on New Year’s Eve, there was no trace of Maresca left.
