Manchester City close in on Enzo Maresca to replace Guardiola

Manchester City are closing in on Enzo Maresca as the man to inherit Pep Guardiola’s job, a move that would keep the post-Guardiola handover inside the football structure Guardiola helped define. Guardiola said on 22 May 2026 that he would step down this summer after a 10-year reign that delivered 20 major trophies, including the Treble in 2022/23 and four consecutive league titles by 2023/24.

Maresca is no outsider to the Etihad Stadium. He first arrived in August 2020 as manager of City’s Elite Development Squad, left in June 2021 to take charge of Parma, then returned in 2022 as part of Guardiola’s first-team coaching staff before leaving again in June 2023 for Leicester City. Leicester confirmed him as their new first-team manager on 16 June 2023 and gave him a three-year deal, placing him back in the Premier League spotlight just as City’s era under Guardiola entered its final months.

That background gives City a choice that is larger than a routine hire. Maresca would represent continuity with Guardiola’s methods because he has already worked inside the same system, spoken about possession football, and shown a willingness to adapt rather than treat that style as a fixed script. At the same time, his appointment would amount to a subtle reset, because City would be asking a coach with his own managerial record to protect standards built around one of the most exacting regimes in modern English football.

Maresca’s Leicester spell has added evidence that he can operate beyond the shadow of City. In November 2023, after Sheffield Wednesday held Leicester to a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough, he said the match felt like a defeat. In February 2024, after Leicester beat Wednesday 2-0, he praised Sheffield Wednesday’s tactical flexibility, underscoring how closely he reads shifting game states and structural detail.

For City, that blend is the key issue. Guardiola’s departure closes one of the defining managerial reigns in Premier League history, and his successor will be judged against a standard set not just by trophies, but by control, cohesion and repeatability. Maresca’s proximity to City’s football culture makes him the clearest continuity candidate, yet the scale of the task remains unforgiving: preserving a machine that was built around one coach’s methods without allowing the system to lose its edge.