Chelsea are reportedly closing in on Enzo Maresca as their next head coach, replacing the departed Mauricio Pochettino, with the Leicester man in prime position to take over at Stamford Bridge. But the job is a massive step up for the 44-year-old, who has never been a manager in the English top flight, and a big summer of change is set to take place.
Aside from a swap of figureheads in the Blues dugout, rafts of players are set to come and go as Chelsea attempt to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules while improving the squad available to Maresca.
There will be some similar faces upon the former Manchester City assistant’s arrival at Cobham, having taken youngster Cesare Casadei on loan at Leicester for the first half of the season, before Chelsea recalled the Italian in January. Maresca also worked with Cole Palmer alongside Pep Guardiola and will be eager to link up with the England midfielder once again.
Another player who Maresca may want to make the same switch from Manchester to London is goalkeeper Stefan Ortega. The German stopper showed his undoubted quality with a title-winning save from Son Heung-min in City’s penultimate Premier League match and has ably deputised for Ederson on several occasions.
But the 31-year-old is hoping for a bigger role, potentially elsewhere if Ederson stays at City. Chelsea have utilised both Robert Sanchez and Gabriel Slonina but a new first-choice goalkeeper may be ideal to kickstart a new possession-heavy style of play under Maresca, with a player he knows well between the posts.
Leicester’s midfield under Maresca has been one of the key reasons why they were able to storm to the Championship title, spearheaded by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. His 12 goals and 14 assists were vital and although he has expressed his desire to stay at the King Power Stadium, working with his current boss at Chelsea may be too good to turn down.
He has been rated at £30million amid interest from Manchester United and Brighton and while Leicester will want to keep hold of their star man, they could be left with little choice if Maresca comes armed with Chelsea’s financial firepower.
Ndidi’s contract is up next month and could represent a significant coup, reuniting with the head coach who has unlocked some of his best form in a Leicester shirt since his arrival in 2017.
