Leicester City have appointed Manchester City assistant coach Enzo Maresca as their new permanent manager. The 43-year-old joins the Foxes on the back of a hugely successful season with the Sky Blues, where they won the treble. And on the other hand, Leicester had to endure relegation after reaching the heights of the Premier League title and Champions League football during their stint in the top flight.
The Italian has signed a three-year contract until 2026, and has been officially presented as the new head coach of the club. The other options available were Dean Smith, Scott Parker and Steven Gerrard. But, he strongly impressed the board and directors during their interviews and has been given the nod to lead the team in the coming season.
Leicester City will be expected to return to the Premier League right away, and Maresca will have to go into the season with a determined mentality to get it done.
Enzo Maresca joins Leicester City as new permanent manager
“I’m very excited because of the club (I’m joining) and because we have a big season ahead of us. I consider Leicester City as a big club, a Premier League club. The reality in this moment says that we are a Championship club, so we need to have all the players with the same mentality thinking that we are in the Championship,” he told LCFC TV after the official presentation.
“We need to change something, and then, from there, to build something important. We know that when we build, because we have changed many players, always it requires time, but in the end, it’s exciting.”
“First of all, we as a club, we need to rebuild this confidence. Then, also the players that stay with us from last year, they need to change their mentality. The players that we brought in, they need to understand that Leicester is a demanding club. The most important part of this is they need to understand now that we are in the Championship – we need them even more than in the previous season,” he added.
Who is Enzo Maresca?
The former Manchester City assistant was also in charge of their U23 team before being a part of Pep Guardiola’s staff. His only role as the head coach of a team was with Parma in 2021. He spent 180 days as manager, and won only four out of 14 games as they were relegated from Serie A.
He started as an assistant coach at Ascooi before moving to Sevilla. Maresca then served as the assistant manager to Manuel Pellegrini at West Ham United before moving to City.
Leicester City fans have received the appointment of Enzo Maresca fairly well, owing to his recent experience with Pep Guardiola. Considering the way Mikel Arteta has turned things around for Arsenal, a similar outcome will be expected for the Foxes in the Championship. However, Maresca will be without some key players like James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Timothy Castagne among other potential outgoings.
