‘Just a rumour’: Why Enzo Maresca to Man City never made any sense

If Enzo Maresca’s last contribution as a Manchester City employee was to help them secure the treble in 2023, his most recent input to the discourse around the Etihad Stadium feels more unwelcome. The apparent indications that City’s former assistant manager had spoken to his old club about the possibility of replacing Pep Guardiola raised the issue of the Spaniard’s future.

Which has lingered in the background; as, indeed, it has for much of a reign that has extended for far longer than he originally envisaged. The Catalan shrugged off the idea his old assistant had talked to City. “Why would I give you an update about an opinion that I don't know is about this opinion?” he said. “It's just a rumour.”

Guardiola adopted a trademark blend of playfulness and faux arrogance. “You want to fire me?” he asked “My salary is so high, so I have one more year... I know you are bored of me, ten years here. I will leave one day, I promise. But I have a contract, I'm happy, I want to fight with my team. I like to be here.”

That contract expires in 2027. If the idea is gaining credence that Guardiola could walk away 12 months early, that agreeing a deal of that length was actually to spare him a season of questioning this year, City are entitled to call such ideas speculative. The chances are that only one man knows if Guardiola will go in the summer. And perhaps not even that, if Guardiola has not decided yet.

City have reasons to compile contingency plans, but Plan A remains the man with six Premier League titles and a couple of trebles; if Guardiola asked for a new deal tomorrow, it is safe to assume City would not decline on the grounds they had Maresca lined up.

But maybe Maresca’s unravelling at Chelsea illustrated the difficulties of replacing Guardiola. The Spaniard’s meltdown in the space of barely a month at Stamford Bridge might indicate he is ill-equipped for the job; Guardiola has his quirks but has found ways of managing elite clubs for 16 of the past 17 years. His methods have been more sustainable than Maresca’s.

If Maresca overplayed his hand with Chelsea by seemingly presenting himself as the most coveted property in football management, it would also rank as a surprise if he were actually City’s top choice. There is a school of thought that could be Vincent Kompany, another educated by Guardiola, whose children are half-Mancunian, but who has the complication that he is Bayern Munich’s manager.

Much would rest on the timing of the vacancy, which in turn comes down to Guardiola. By the summer, Xabi Alonso may no longer be Real Madrid manager. Thomas Tuchel might be moving on from England. Each could be deemed a more credible candidate than Maresca. If Luis Enrique, Julian Nagelsmann or Mikel Arteta was available – implausible as any of that sounds right now – they should have an appeal.

Maresca is not alone in learning from Guardiola: so did Cesc Fabregas and Xavi, besides Kompany, Alonso and Arteta. The Premier League’s status as a hotbed of managerial talent could provide a case for Andoni Iraola or Oliver Glasner, depending on who is the flavour of whichever month when City are looking. Despite his close friendship with City’s director of football Hugo Viana and their productive time together at Sporting CP, it is safe to assume Guardiola’s replacement will not be Ruben Amorim. Rewind 14 months, however, and the argument was made that Manchester United had to hire him to prevent City from doing so.

Some may see parallels between Guardiola and Arsene Wenger, whose supposed successors faded away or moved elsewhere as the Frenchman went on and on. The City manager may prefer comparisons with Sir Alex Ferguson, who went out by winning the league. The most relevant example may involve his greatest rival, Jurgen Klopp. The German went of his own volition, before the end of his contract, after laying a platform with the creation of a new team.

Liverpool 2.0 enthused Klopp even as he knew he was tiring. Guardiola has been given fresh energy by this younger, faster City side, even if the probability is that Arsenal will pip them to the title. Maybe Guardiola, in developing Nico O’Reilly and bringing in Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku and, perhaps, Antoine Semenyo, is preparing his own gift for the man who will take his seat in the dugout in due course.

One factor in Klopp’s decision was that he did not want to go out after Liverpool’s traumatic 2022-23. City experienced something similar last season in the worst run of Guardiola’s career. Perhaps it was a sign of his commitment that he did not walk away then. Nor was he fired. “The hierarchy respects me,” he said. “They proved it last season with what happened when we didn't win one game in two, three months.”

It was a way in which City showed they are not Chelsea. The sense has long been that Guardiola would never have taken the Chelsea job. But as he remains in a job and Maresca is out of one, it remains to be seen if a protégé is ever offered the chance to take over from him.