Enzo Maresca sat down for an hour with five Manchester-based journalists in Seoul to set out what the new Manchester City will look like
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca
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So large did Pep Guardiola loom over everyone and everything at Manchester City by the end of his decade in charge that some of his assistants were nervous about filling in for him or even parking in his spot when he was away. It feels telling about Enzo Maresca then that the new manager has already turned his old boss's office into a meeting room.
With an elite playing career, his own coaching CV and a personal friendship with Guardiola that goes beyond the job, Maresca is comfortable and confident enough in his own abilities to be undaunted by the task ahead of him. As if there aren't enough cautionary tales about replacing managerial legends in English football, he inherits a squad that has lost almost all of the players who he won the Treble with just three years ago
Just like the office space though, Maresca wants to use what has come before him to help shape his own vision and has had the City hierarchy convinced for years. Even if he wasn't necessarily first choice for fans - Vincent Kompany will always take that spot - the Blues believed he was one of few men capable of succeeding Guardiola and that view only hardened when he jumped at the chance this summer rather than wavering.