Chelsea make decision on Fabregas and De Zerbi after Maresca exit

Tom Weber

• 1 Jan 2026 12:58 CST
• 3 min read

News

Chelsea have ruled out making approaches for Cesc Fabregas and Roberto de Zerbi after Enzo Maresca's explosive departure, according to a report.

The Italian has departed Stamford Bridge by mutual consent after tension that had been bubbling for a year boiled over in the wake of Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Bournemouth.

Maresca felt a lack of support from club bosses, while Chelsea's board were concerned with recent results and the coach's inability to respect the clearly delineated boundaries of his role.

FootballTransfers understands that an altercation between Maresca and a senior figure at Chelsea took place after the game on Tuesday, which is why the 45-year-old skipped his media duties and decided to walk away from the job.

Maresca is among the favourites to replace Man City boss Pep Guardiola if and when he decides to leave his role, and it has been revealed that talks already took place as early as October, which only increased Chelsea's frustration with the Italian.

Chelsea rule out Fabregas, De Zerbi

It is believed that only a very small number of coaches are in contention for the Chelsea job, with Ben Jacobs now dismissing reports that Cesc Fabregas and Roberto de Zerbi are under consideration.

Fabregas is challenging for Europe with Como after keeping them in Serie A last season, while De Zerbi is vying for the Ligue 1 title with Marseille. The latter was previously considered for the role by Chelsea.

Neither is in the frame now, however. Instead, as FootballTransfers has revealed, Liam Rosenior is the frontrunner for the job, having shown that he is capable of succeeding within BlueCo's youth-driven recruitment framework at sister club Strasbourg.

The Alsatians enjoyed a spectacular start to the season under the 41-year-old, but success in the Conference League has increasingly come at the cost of domestic results in recent weeks.

Strasbourg finished the league phase of the Conference League unbeaten and top of the table with five wins from six, but they have slipped down to seventh in Ligue 1.

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•App Store