Manchester City have announced the appointment of Enzo Maresca as their new manager on a three-year deal to 2029.The Italian has replaced Pep Guardiola after the Catalan brought a decade at the Etihad to a close at the end of the 2025-26 season.Maresca has been out of work since parting ways with Chelsea on January 1, but he has already begun collaborating closely with City sporting director Hugo Viana in the club’s planning for summer transfer activity and pre-season schedule.As reported by The Athletic on January 1 upon his departure from Stamford Bridge, Chelsea had been informed by Maresca on three occasions, twice in late October and then again in mid-December, that he was in dialogue with people associated with City about his candidacy for the club’s managerial role should it become available.In a statement on Monday, Chelsea confirmed this dialogue over succeeding Guardiola occurred “in autumn last year”. The Italian was contractually obliged to inform Chelsea of talks with any other club.“In December 2025, our head coach unexpectedly and abruptly resigned from his position,” their lengthy statement released on Monday added. “Obviously, we felt let down as we believed that his head and heart were focused on another club and another opportunity.“In the circumstances and given the mutual respect between clubs, a confidential settlement has been reached with Manchester City, which includes the payment of compensation. A confidential settlement has also been reached with the former head coach under which he will pay compensation.”Maresca’s departure on New Year’s Day came after The Athletic reported he would rank highly among the candidates to replace Guardiola this summer in the event the Catalan left.In a statement on Instagram, coinciding with his Chelsea’s statement and City’s confirmation of his appointment, Maresca apologised to the London club for the “disruption” to their season.“At the end of December 2025, I made the difficult decision to leave Chelsea,” Maresca wrote.“The decision was only mine. My resignation from Chelsea opened a path for me to join Manchester City, which is a club I knew very well. I am ecstatic that I have now joined Manchester City.“I recognise that my departure from Chelsea in the middle of the season caused disruption for the club and I apologise for that. It was neither my intention nor my wish. I was treated well by everyone at Chelsea and together we achieved great success and memories that I will always treasure.“I am grateful to the club, the owners and the fans for giving me the opportunity.”Guardiola announced his intention to depart from the club in May, ahead of the final game of the 2025-26 season, a home loss against Aston Villa.How do you replace Pep Guardiola?Sam Lee and Reuben Pinder“Manchester City is a club I know very well and to have the chance to manage this team is a brilliant opportunity for me,” Maresca said on his announcement on Monday.“City is an incredibly well-run football club. Everything they do is innovative, planned and purposeful. For a manager, that is a dream situation. It provides the consistency I need to do my job effectively.“I cannot wait to start coaching the players. I want us to win, play good football and enjoy the pressure of representing Manchester City.”Maresca is already familiar with City, having coached the club’s Under-21s for the 2020-21 season and returning, following a stint as Parma coach, as a first-team assistant to Guardiola in the summer of 2022.The 46-year-old was a part of Guardiola’s staff when the club won their historic treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in 2022-23.Maresca then embarked on a managerial career of his own, guiding Leicester City to the Championship title in 2023-24 and joining Chelsea that summer, winning the Conference League and Club World Cup in his one full season in charge at Stamford Bridge.The Italian also helped Chelsea to a top-four finish in the 2024-25 season and Champions League qualification.Guardiola, 55, won 20 trophies across a decade in charge at the Etihad Stadium — including six Premier Leagues, four of which were successive between 2021 and 2024.City won this season’s Carabao Cup and FA Cup, but missed out on the Premier League for a second successive season. They finished 13 points behind eventual champions Liverpool in 2024-25, before losing out to Arsenal this campaign.Self-confidence no issue for MarescaAnalysis by The Athletic’s correspondent Simon JohnsonYou could tell Maresca was never short of confidence at Chelsea, especially after leading the team to the Club World Cup last July.It is a measure of how much Maresca believes in his abilities that he has agreed to succeed Guardiola, clearly one of the toughest jobs in the history of the Premier League.Despite a growing sense of disappointment since the Italian left in January, Chelsea fans were divided over Maresca when he was at the club. His name was barely ever sung during the 18 months he was at the helm.This was partly due to the style of football of course, which when played at its worst was rather methodical and ponderous. He rarely showed his personality in press conferences too, coming across as stiff and cold.But telling the critics to ‘f— off’ after the victory over Nottingham Forest 12 months ago and running down the touchline to celebrate a late winner over Liverpool in October betrayed the passion this guy has for the game.Maresca was not at Chelsea long enough to determine whether he is the real deal or not. But his tactical acumen was a major factor in Chelsea defeating Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final.Show that on a consistent basis and he will convince the doubters in the Manchester City fanbase that he is the right man for the job.Bad blood from Maresca’s messy Chelsea exit still lingersAnalysis by The Athletic’s Liam TwomeyThe fact that Maresca is never referred to by name in Chelsea’s statement should tell you all you need to know about the bad blood that lingers from his Stamford Bridge exit.Chelsea’s season was already losing momentum by the time Maresca effectively quit in December, but many at the club consider his abrupt departure to be the catalyst for an unravelling that ultimately left them with a 10th-place finish in the Premier League.Critics might point out that Chelsea did themselves no favours in that regard with the ill-fated appointment of Liam Rosenior as Maresca’s replacement in January, but that decision was made under the considerable duresse of a packed fixture schedule and would not have been necessary if the Italian had not chosen to leave when he did.Maresca made it clear to Chelsea in the months preceding his departure that he was very interested in the possibility of succeeding Guardiola at City, and he has got his wish. The unusual requirement for him to pay an undisclosed amount of compensation to his former club is unlikely to leave him with any regrets.Chelsea have moved on with the exciting appointment of Xabi Alonso, and Maresca has his dream job at City. Everyone can move on — until the two clubs next meet on the pitch.