Enzo Maresca

Enzo Maresca (born 10 February 1980) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of Premier League club Chelsea.

After starting out at West Bromwich Albion in 1998, he went on to play for several clubs in his country, including Juventus, who loaned him twice for the duration of his contract and with whom he won the league title in 2002. After being released in 2004, he went to play one season with Fiorentina. He then resumed his career in La Liga with Sevilla (where he remained for four years) and Málaga, appearing in 134 games and scoring 17 goals in the competition, after winning five major titles with Sevilla. In between his two spells in Spain, he also spent one year in Greece with Olympiacos. In 2012, he returned to Italy, where he played until his retirement in 2017, totalling 140 appearances and 17 goals in Serie A.

Maresca represented Italy at youth level, including the Italy under-21 team, but was never capped at senior level.

Early years
Born in Pontecagnano Faiano, Province of Salerno, Maresca started playing football at the age of 11 with A.C. Milan and joined Cagliari after three years.

He began his professional career with English club West Bromwich Albion, despite having "no grasp of the English language". He made his debut in a 2–0 home defeat against Bradford City on 20 September 1998, and played two incomplete seasons with the English club in the Football League First Division.

Juventus
In January 2000, Maresca moved back to Italy and joined Juventus in a transfer worth £4.3 million, a club-record sale for Albion at the time. He played in one Serie A game before the end of the season.

For two of the following three seasons, Maresca was loaned to fellow league teams Bologna and Piacenza—a co-ownershp deal in the latter case—scoring nine goals in 2002–03 but suffering team relegation. During the previous campaign, he notably netted an important equaliser in the Derby della mole return leg, against neighbouring Torino; he attracted controversy, however, when he celebrated the goal by mimicking Torino's Marco Ferrante's earlier "bull-horn" goal celebration (the bull being a club symbol as it is Turin's coat of arms, and the side also being known in its contracted form as "Toro", bull in Italian). Juventus subsequently bought the remaining 50% of his rights for €2.6 million.

Fiorentina
In the summer of 2004, Fiorentina signed Maresca along with Fabrizio Miccoli and Giorgio Chiellini for €13 million, with Juventus holding half of the players' rights. He made his official debut on 12 September, playing 60 minutes in a 0–1 away defeat to Roma.

At the end of the season, with the Viola narrowly avoiding top level relegation, Juventus bought back all three for around €6.7 million in a blind auction between the clubs. Maresca's cost was of only about €7,000, but an additional €420,000 agent fee in order to keep the player was also involved.

Sevilla
On 16 July 2005, Maresca transferred to Sevilla for a fee of €2.5 million on a four-year contract. In his first season in La Liga, he played 29 games and scored eight goals. He played eleven games and scored three goals in the side's victorious campaign in the UEFA Cup. This included scoring twice in the final against Middlesbrough (4–0), in which he was also named man of the match. Maresca donated €10,000 prize money to the San Juan de Dios hospital in Seville. He scored a late penalty, after coming off the bench, to seal a 3–0 win over Barcelona in 2006 UEFA Super Cup.

Maresca played 45 minutes in the 2007 UEFA Cup Final at Hampden Park, as Sevilla successfully defended its European title against Espanyol. He appeared in an average of 22 league matches in his last three years combined.

Olympiacos
On 13 July 2009, Maresca transferred to Greek club Olympiacos in a three-year deal. He scored in his Superleague debut, a 2–0 win at Larissa, and appeared regularly during the 2009–10 campaign as the Piraeus-based club finished in second position.

Málaga
After terminating his contract with Olympiacos in August 2010, Maresca trained with former club Fiorentina in order to maintain match fitness. On 7 December, it was announced that he had been in talks with Málaga; after undergoing a medical examination, he signed with the Andalusians until June 2012. Maresca made his league debut for his new team on 8 January 2011, playing 57 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against Athletic Bilbao. On 7 May, he contributed with one goal to the team's 3–0 success at Atlético Madrid.

Maresca appeared in 19 matches in 2011–12 (nine starts, two goals ) as his team finished in fourth position and qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in its history.

Return to Italy
On 2 July 2012, as his contract was about to expire, Maresca signed a new one-year contract with Málaga; on 30 August, however, he returned to his country after seven years, joining Sampdoria for free.

Maresca scored his second goal of the season via a bicycle kick, but in a 1–2 home defeat to Atalanta on 4 November 2012. In January 2014, after having featured rarely in the first half of the new campaign, he agreed on a return to the Serie B and joined league leaders Palermo, who were in need of a playmaker. After contributing to the team's championship conquest, on 15 September 2014 he underwent an operation due to acute appendicitis, and the following January he signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2016.

On 15 May 2016, in the last matchday, Maresca scored in a 3–2 home win over Hellas Verona to help save his team from relegation. In September, the free agent joined the opposition, who in turn had dropped down a level.

On 13 January 2017, Maresca terminated his contract with Verona. On 10 February, his 37th birthday, he announced his retirement via his personal Instagram profile, after a footballing career which spanned nearly twenty years.

International career
Maresca was selected by the Italy under-20 team for the 2000 Toulon Tournament, and finished runner-up with the under-18s in the 1999 UEFA European Championship.

He also represented the under-21 side for two years between 2000 and 2002, although he missed the 2002 UEFA European Championship tournament in Switzerland due to injury as the nation went on to reach the semi-finals of the tournament. He was never capped at full level.

Style of play
A versatile, consistent, fast, energetic and hardworking player, Maresca was capable of playing anywhere in midfield;  although he was often deployed as a deep-lying playmaker, due to his ability to orchestrate his team's offensive moves and create goalscoring opportunities, his preferred position was in a box-to-box role, either as a central or attacking midfielder, where he often demonstrated his offensive capabilities, eye for goal and adeptness at making late attacking runs into the penalty area. He was also capable of playing as a mezzala. A quick, dynamic and creative player, with good movement, technique and composure on the ball, he possessed good vision, awareness, tactical intelligence and passing ability;   due to his physical and mental attributes, as well as his stamina, tenacity and work-rate, he was also competent defensively.

Because of his talent and wide range of skills, Emiliano Mondonico, Maresca's former manager at Fiorentina, described him as a "complete player".

Managerial career
On 1 June 2017, Maresca was unveiled as part of the non-playing staff of Serie B club Ascoli for the upcoming season. As he did not have the required coaching badges by the time of the hiring, he was officially appointed as assistant to new head coach Fulvio Fiorin, formerly a youth manager and scout for Milan.

In August 2020, he was hired by Manchester City as manager of their Elite Development Squad.

Parma
After winning the Premier League 2 title with Manchester City, on 27 May 2021 he was hired as the new head coach of Parma, who played in Serie B in the 2021–22 season. Maresca failed in leading Parma into the promotion spots, being eventually dismissed on 23 November 2021.

In June 2022, he returned to Manchester City as one of Pep Guardiola's assistant managers, replacing Juanma Lillo, who became manager of Al-Sadd.

Leicester City
On 16 June 2023, Maresca was appointed manager of Championship club Leicester City, having signed a three-year contract with the newly relegated English club. He spent his first two months living at the club's training base. His first game in charge was an M69 derby on 6 August 2023 against Coventry City, ending with a 2–1 victory for Leicester. After starting the season with a 100% record in their first four matches in the Championship, Maresca was named the EFL Championship Manager of the Month in August. In October, he won the award for a second time, after leading Leicester to another perfect record, getting six wins and 15 goals from six matches. In December, he won the award for the third time, after leading Leicester to end the calendar year at the top of the league, getting six wins and 18 goals from seven matches. His Leicester side secured promotion back to the Premier League on 26 April 2024, becoming Championship champions on 29 April following a 3–0 away victory over Preston North End. He was awarded with another EFL Manager of the Month in April, his fourth in the season, for collecting 15 points in seven games.

Chelsea
On 3 June 2024, Premier League club Chelsea announced that Maresca would be joining as head coach on 1 July 2024, signing a five-year deal with an option to extend for a further year.

Personal life
Maresca is married to Maria Jesus Pariente. The couple have four children.

Player
Juventus
 * Serie A: 2001–02
 * Supercoppa Italiana: 2003

Sevilla
 * Copa del Rey: 2006–07
 * Supercopa de España: 2007
 * UEFA Cup: 2005–06, 2006–07
 * UEFA Super Cup: 2006

Palermo
 * Serie B: 2013–14

Manager
Manchester City Under-23 Leicester City
 * Premier League 2: 2020–21
 * EFL Championship: 2023–24

Individual
 * EFL Championship Manager of the Month: August 2023, October 2023, December 2023, April 2024