Chelsea reach agreement to hire Enzo Maresca to replace Mauricio Pochettino as new manager after Leicester success
ENZO MARESCA has agreed to become Chelsea's new manager, according to reports.
The 44-year-old succeeds Mauricio Pochettino, who left by mutual consent last week.
Chelsea had considered the likes of Kieran McKenna, Roberto De Zerbi and Thomas Frank for the job.
However, Maresca emerged as the overwhelming favourite over the weekend following his success with Leicester City.
The Blues will pay Leicester £10million in compensation to formally complete the deal.
It is understood Maresca will put pen to paper on a five-year deal - with the option of an extra year until 2030.
Read More on Football
The Italian took over at the King Power Stadium last summer and guided Leicester back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
He won 31 out of 46 Championship games during his only season with the Foxes.
Before joining Leicester, Maresca worked for Manchester City as Pep Guardiola's assistant.
He played an important role in guiding the Sky Blues to their historic Treble.
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS
Leicester midfielder Harry Winks recently hailed Maresca as an "incredible" manager.
He told Sky Sports: "He's by far the best manager I've worked for. He's incredible.
"Everybody will say he's going right to the top in terms of managerial stature. He's got everything. He's a great man manager.
"He's tactically incredible in some of the decisions that he tells us to do before the game and how he views the match is something I've never experienced before in football."
Leicester are considering West Brom boss Carlos Corberan as an option to replace Stamford Bridge-bound Maresca.
The ex-Huddersfield manager guided West Brom to the play-offs this season despite not spending a single penny on new signings.
Corberan's men fell short, losing 3-1 on aggregate to eventual winners Southampton in their semi-final.
However, the energetic Spaniard's stock remains high and he is regarded as one of the most tactically astute managers in the Championship.
Leicester will also have to replace the majority of their backroom staff.
Maresca is set to take the five coaches he brought with him to the club down to West London.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Ex-Chelsea keeper Willy Caballero, who retired to take up the post last summer, is part of his staff.
Also expected to make the move are Danny Walker, Michele De Bernardin, Marcos Alvarez and Javier Molina Caballero.
Leicester fans won't miss Maresca
By Graeme Bryce
It's fair to say most Leicester fans were not exactly pleading with Maresca to stay.
OK, they were not queueing up and offering to drive him to Stamford Bridge.
But there will not be too many tears shed or much wailing at the King Power either.
The fans’ attitude to losing their incredibly successful boss could be summed up in a word: ‘Meh’.
Maresca failed to win over the paying public who never really took to his patient, possession-based style of football.
Having been brought up — some would say spoiled — by the swashbuckling title winners of 2016, with Jamie Vardy spearheading manager Claudio Ranieri’s shock champions, Maresca never really got off the ground at the King Power.
So it will be interesting to see what Chelsea’s notoriously impatient fans make of Maresca’s ‘death by a thousand cuts’ style of play.
It was not long before some of the old-school Leicester fans started moaning that Maresca’s patient, play-out-from-the-back style was becoming too boring to watch.
During a 3-1 win over Swansea which left them ten points clear at the top, there were moans and groans coming from the stands amid cries of, ‘Get the ball forward’.
Fans accused him of stubbornly sticking to his Plan A — even when it was not working — and claimed he was way too slow to make substitutions.
But one thing Blues fans can look forward to is his man-management and his attention to detail.
And the Foxes players also adored their manager.