Leicester poised to take Enzo Maresca from Manchester City as manager

Leicester are poised to appoint Enzo Maresca, Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City, as their manager. Maresca, a first-team coach at City, has impressed in talks with the Leicester hierarchy and is set to lead the club’s rebuild in the Championship.

Maresca, a highly regarded coach who started his playing career at West Bromwich Albion, would take the job with Guardiola’s and City’s blessing. Leicester interviewed other candidates, including Dean Smith, who took interim charge at the end of this season, and Steven Gerrard. Maresca previously rejected the chance to take charge at Southampton, who have since agreed to appoint Russell Martin. Martin’s move is yet to be rubber-stamped, with Swansea, his current club, seeking maximum compensation.

Leicester are ready to move quickly to install Maresca before the English Football League fixtures are announced next Thursday. It promises to be a challenging role for Maresca, who was given 14 matches by Parma before being sacked by the Italian club in 2021.

Seven first-team players including Youri Tielemans are departing at the end of their contracts and James Maddison and Harvey Barnes are also set to move on. Maddison has interest from Newcastle and Tottenham, while Barnes has admirers at Aston Villa and West Ham.