Enzo Maresca is set to replace Pep Guardiola as Manchester City manager before next season.

As BBC Sport reported on Monday, iconic City boss Guardiola is expected to leave the club following Sunday's game against Aston Villa at Etihad Stadium, their final match of the season.

Former Chelsea head coach Maresca has been identified as the leading contender to replace the legendary Spaniard for the 2026-27 season.

With City preparing for Guardiola's summer exit for more than six months, talks with Maresca are at an advanced stage.

The 46-year-old wants the job and is expected to be confirmed as Guardiola's successor in due course.

The Italian manager, who won the Club World Cup and Conference League while securing Champions League qualification during his only full season at Stamford Bridge, previously worked at City.

He was an assistant to Guardiola during City's treble-winning 2022-23 campaign and played a key role in the club's academy prior to joining the first team.

The former West Brom and Juventus midfielder left City in 2023 to manage Leicester, whom he guided to promotion to the Premier League in his only season.

Guardiola said previously: "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."

Maresca 'makes sense but City still taking step into unknown'

Maresca's expected succession to Guardiola will mean the arrival of a much lower profile figure, but one steeped in the club's methods and approach.

Maresca, who took Leicester back into the Premier League before winning the Conference League then the Club World Cup at Chelsea, is another graduate of the Guardiola coaching academy.

The Italian worked as assistant under Guardiola at City before branching out on his own, following the same template as Mikel Arteta, now on the brink of Premier League and Champions League glory with Arsenal after a successful spell on the coaching staff at Etihad Stadium.

Maresca would not arrive with the stellar coaching reputation and track record of success at elite level that the Catalan had accumulated, first at Barcelona then Bayern Munich, before arriving at City a decade ago and there would undoubtedly be an element of risk to his appointment.

He would be following the hardest act of all, far harder than when he succeeded Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge in June 2024. And Maresca can be a combustible personality, evidenced by him leaving Chelsea in January after fractures appeared with the club's hierarchy.

His time at Chelsea was regarded as a success, with qualifications, his possession-based football not always winning favour with supporters.

Succeeding Guardiola, and somehow trying to replicate his remarkable successes, will be bring heavy pressures and intense scrutiny.

In Maresca's favour, however, is that he would come with a glowing reference from the Spaniard, who believes he never received enough credit for his work at Chelsea.

City's hierarchy, crucially, have first-hand knowledge of Maresca's character and ability.

He would offer an element of continuity and stability following the seismic event that will be the departure of one of the greatest, most innovative figures in the game's history.

Maresca would be trying to fill arguably the biggest shoes in modern football, but this would be no rushed appointment, no knee-jerk response.

City's Abu Dhabi-based rulers will have been preparing for this day. Every aspect of due diligence will have been done. The rubber stamp would have only been applied after meticulous deliberations.

This will still not stop this being something of a step into the unknown as City finally enter the post-Guardiola era.

Maresca 'can slot in seamlessly at City'

Having spent significant time with Maresca during his 18 months at Chelsea, it is clear he would slot seamlessly into City.

You would be hard pressed to find a coach more similar in style to Guardiola, whom Maresca idolised while facing his Barcelona side as a player in La Liga.

He transformed Chelsea into a possession-based side built on slow, patient build-up. They lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in almost every match, although the fluid movement of players allowed them to adapt to opponents and keep them guessing from game to game.

His final six months at Chelsea were marked by a fractured relationship with the club's ownership, who were aware of City's interest early in the season through the Italian's agent Jorge Mendes, alongside hearing his complaints over transfers at Stamford Bridge.

Despite the tension, and partly blaming him for a drop in form that followed his mid-season exit and Chelsea's decline this season, the hierarchy respected much of his work with the players, and he remained popular with the majority of the dressing room.

The London club say they are due compensation under the terms of Maresca's departure, though the exact amount will be subject to negotiation.

Maresca 'deserves chance'

The void Guardiola will leave feels insurmountable.

Twenty trophies in a decade of dominance and brilliance. Records toppled. Centurions, a domestic quadruple, a treble, four Premier League titles in a row and a domestic double. These are unrealistic standards for any manager to be held to - so nobody would envy the act that is to follow.

Maresca's appointment will be with the blessing of Pep. He has achieved greatness at the club alongside him in 2023, although going it alone is an entirely different proposition. He applies the same coaching ethos towards his teams. His relatively modest time in management has enjoyed silverware. He has the foundations to build on, although some question whether Maresca is merely a bridge to eventually appointing our former captain and current Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany.

The downside to any appointment City make is that it is not Guardiola, the man who gave fans the best 10 years of their lives.

But if Maresca is the chosen one, he deserves the right to be given a chance (BBC)

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