Manchester United and Tottenham have yet to make “any sort of contact” with Enzo Maresca, leaving the way clear for Manchester City to appoint him, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Speaking on his YouTube channel (quotes via GiveMeSport), Romano made the bold claim that the former Chelsea head coach is in pole position to replace Pep Guardiola, and he doesn’t see other clubs complicating the situation at the moment.
“If Pep decides to leave between now and the end of the season, the name already identified by Manchester City to become the next manager at some point remains, according to my information, Enzo Maresca.”
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“Maresca has not had so far any sort of contact with Tottenham or Manchester United. Those close to the former Chelsea manager are aware of the situation and interest from Manchester City.”
“Manchester City are just preparing for when it’s time to say goodbye to Pep Guardiola and it’s for Pep to decide and he has not made any decision yet.”
Man City have had 3 meetings with Maresca
Director of Football Hugo Viana has been planning for Guardiola’s departure for several months, and initial contact was made with the Italian late last year when he was still in charge of Chelsea.
Another respected journalist David Ornstein confirmed that Maresca had talked to representatives of City on three different occasions.
Guardiola still hasn’t decided on his future
As Romano says, the future of the current manager is still clouded in mystery. Guardiola has emphasised that he still has a contract that runs until the summer of 2027.
However, that doesn’t mean that the 55-year-old will stay until then. The fact that talks have advanced to the stage they have with Maresca suggests the City hierarchy do fear Guardiola will quit at the end of the season.
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