Pep Guardiola’s former assistant with €10m release clause early favourite to replace Pochettino | OneFootball

Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca has emerged as the early front runner to replace Mauricio Pochettino less than 24 hours after the Argentine left Chelsea.

Following an end of season review the Blues announced on Tuesday evening the 52-year-old had left the club after just one season in charge.

The decision has been widely criticised and seen as the wrong thing to do, given how Pochettino had started to turn things round in the second half of the season, ending the campaign with a run of five straight Premier League wins.

Maresca the early favourite

The former Tottenham manager was well liked by the players, and from their reactions on social media a lot are finding his dismissal hard to take.

Chelsea’s sporting directors will now turn their attention to appointing the club’s third permanent manager and fifth in total under the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital ownership.

Early reports indicate Thomas Frank, Kieran McKenna and Enzo Maresca are the front runners for the job, with other candidates Roberto De Zerbi and Sebastian Hoeness viewed as unlikely appointments.

Maresca led Leicester to the Championship title last season.

Italian outlet Di Marzio have reported that Leicester’s Maresca has emerged as the early favourite for the Stamford Bridge vacancy, stating decision makers at Chelsea are convinced by his style of play and his achievements at the King Power Stadium.

Di Marzio add that Pep Guardiola’s former assistant has a release clause in his contract of €10m.

Maresca was Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City last season as they won the treble, before he took the Leicester job following their relegation from the Premier League.

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The Italian guided the Foxes back to the Premier League at the first time of asking as he led them to the Championship title, finishing a point ahead of Ipswich.

Whilst Maresca is clearly a talented coach in the making, and has learnt from one of the best in the business in Guardiola, the step up to Chelsea after just one season as a manager appears a steep one.

Whoever the next manager is will require time, something which the fanbase and ownership, despite telling supporters otherwise don’t seem prepared to give.