Man City finalise €20m Chelsea agreement: Official announcement soon

22 Jun 2026 19:02 BST | 4 min read

Enzo Maresca, Chelsea, Man City — © IMAGO

Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

Manchester City have finally agreed a compensation package with Chelsea for Enzo Maresca.

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The Italian was chosen as the heir apparent to Pep Guardiola when it became clear that there was a realistic chance of the legendary manager ending his illustrious spell in the Premier League this year.

This is exactly what happened last month, when Guardiola announced that he would leave Man City at the end of the season, despite still having a year left on his contract. He is now expected to take a break from coaching, though he has remained in the City Football Group orbit as an ambassador.

Man City have yet to officially announce the appointment of Maresca because they have spent the past few weeks haggling with Chelsea over a fee for the 46-year-old. Despite leaving the Blues on 1 January, the Italian is still under contract with the club.

Instead of being sacked and having his deal terminated, Maresca decided to walk away from the Stamford Bridge job over disagreements with the hierarchy and a downturn in results. As a result, he is still technically an employee of Chelsea.

Man City achieve Maresca breakthrough

The Blues haven't made life easy for City, who are viewed as a direct rival and who angered BlueCo chiefs when they engaged in talks with Maresca while he was still leading the Chelsea team.

The Stamford Bridge club have played hardball over Maresca and insisted on receiving fair market value, which is why the matter has dragged on way longer than anticipated, with the clubs' respective lawyers scrambling to reach an accord.

According to Gianluca di Marzio, City have finally made a breakthrough and agreed a compensation package to buy Maresca out of his Chelsea contract. The Premier League runners-up are set to pay a whopping €20 million for the Italian, making him one of the most expensive managers ever.

Maresca is due to arrive in Manchester shortly, where he will put pen to paper on a three-year contract. In truth, though, he has long been pulling the strings behind the scenes.

The 46-year-old has been coordinating the club's summer business with sporting director Hugo Viana and could soon get his first major signing in the shape of Elliot Anderson, who looks increasingly likely to arrive from Nottingham Forest in a Premier League-record transfer.

An official announcement confirming Maresca's appointment should be made imminently.

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