Enzo Maresca appointed Manchester City manager: can he win the Premier League in his first season?
Enzo Maresca is Manchester City's new manager. He takes over from club legend Pep Guardiola in what will be his third spell at the Manchester club. Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak described the appointment as a perfect match in ambition and hunger for success.
Third spell at Manchester City
It is a remarkable return for Maresca. He previously guided Cole Palmer, Liam Delap and Morgan Rogers to the Premier League title in 2020 as part of the City setup, before taking charge of Italian side Parma in Serie B. In the summer of 2022 he came back as Guardiola's assistant. Since then he has firmly established himself as a head coach: he steered Leicester City into the Premier League in the 2023/24 season and subsequently joined Chelsea, where he won the Conference League and the Club World Cup. On 1 January 2026 he left Chelsea following disagreements over the club's transfer policy. City had to compensate Chelsea for the move, but Al Mubarak left little doubt about the reasoning: "Enzo inherits a squad and a football organisation that aligns perfectly with his style of play. We are all looking forward to seeing the impact he can have."
Maresca on his appointment
The Italian coach responded enthusiastically to his new role. "Manchester City is a club I know very well. Getting the chance to lead this team is a tremendous opportunity," Maresca said through the club's official channels. "City is an exceptionally well-run football club. Everything they do is innovative, planned and purposeful. For a manager, that is an ideal situation." He stressed how familiar he already feels with the environment: "This will be my third spell here. I know this club, I know the demands and I know the expectations. I can't wait to start coaching the players. I want us to win, play good football and enjoy the pressure that comes with representing Manchester City."
How will Maresca change Manchester City's game?
Maresca is widely regarded as a coach in the Guardiola mould, but the key question is how far he will adopt his predecessor's more unorthodox systems. The expectation is that City will continue to operate with a back three in possession and drop into a back four out of the ball, though Maresca appears less inclined to routinely deploy defensively vulnerable fullbacks. At Chelsea he made extensive use of a 4-2-3-1 formation. With Rodri — entering the final year of his contract but expected to stay — and the versatile Elliot Anderson, he has enough flexibility in midfield to deploy wingers and wing-backs interchangeably. Where his Chelsea side lacked genuine width and a clinical striker, he has those weapons readily available at City: Jeremy Doku, Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo on the flanks, Erling Haaland as the focal point, and both Nico O'Reilly and Phil Foden as creative links. The squad depth provided by Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez and Tijjani Reijnders makes the overall picture deeply impressive. The whole package promises to be more cohesive than the Chelsea version, but with the same attacking intent — a dangerous combination for the rest of the division.
Can Manchester City win the Premier League in Maresca's first season?
The chance is real, provided the transition is swift and the chemistry between manager and squad clicks early. An energetic midfielder like Anderson alongside Rodri gives Maresca the licence to go all-out in attack. At the back, a recovered Gvardiol alongside Ruben Dias, Marc Guehi and either Rayan Ait-Nouri or Abdukodir Khusanov forms a defensive line that is both physically imposing and tactically forward-thinking. Arsenal and Liverpool will also be in the title race, but Manchester City have every ingredient to go all the way from year one.
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Source: Via Nbc Sports (GNews)
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