Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith doesn’t expect Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca to succeed Pep Guardiola in the dugout at Man City.
Credible sources have revealed that the Italian is under consideration if Guardiola opts to leave the Etihad at the end of the season, but speaking to Best Betting Sites UK, Smith questioned Maresca’s credentials:
“It might be Maresca’s agent starting the rumours. I don’t know. I’m sure he’d love to go to City. He’s got questions to be answered at Chelsea. Quite a lot of fans are unhappy with the way things are going under him, feeling he’s a bit too negative, hasn’t got a plan B and all the rest of it. But I’d be surprised if he did end up there.”
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“We don’t know about Pep, do we? How long he’s going to go on for? He seems to be enjoying it, and he’s built another team that’s going to be able to challenge for the title again, which will give him a great buzz, to bring in these new players and see how they’re adapting.”
“But no, I’d be amazed if it was Maresca that was the next man. But it could be five years down the line, and things look a lot different then.”
Will Guardiola leave next summer?
Trusted journalist David Ornstein says his sources believe that this could well be the Catalan’s “last season at City”, although nothing is set in stone.
Guardiola signed a contract in November last year, keeping him in Manchester until the summer of 2027, but there is nothing stopping him from quitting before then.
Man City will have drawn up a shortlist
If there is any chance that Guardiola will leave, contingency plans would have been put in place by the club. Maresca’s name has probably been mentioned by Director of Football Hugo Viana.
It is the Portuguese’s job to draw up a list of names, and considering Maresca’s past association with City, it would not be a surprise if he is, at the very least, in the mix. It would be surprising, though, if he is one of the favourites to replace Guardiola.
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