Chelsea are set to appoint Enzo Maresca as the club’s new manager and will support him in the transfer market this summer but are wary of complying with PSR rules
Enzo Maresca is facing the prospect of having to offload homegrown stars as Chelsea look to bolster their squad this summer.
Maresca, 44, has agreed a five-year contract to take over at Stamford Bridge after leading Leicester City to the Championship title. Italian Maresca arrives at Chelsea with the expectation that he will fill the role of head coach to work within their football structure led by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.
Chelsea do want to shake up the squad again this summer even though they will be under pressure to stay within the Premier League ’s strict Profit and Sustainability Rules. That puts an immediate question over the future of midfielder Conor Gallagher who remains a firm favourite at Stamford Bridge.
But Tottenham are long-term admirers of the 24-year-old who only has a year left on his contract. Chelsea would like to keep him but selling homegrown players does maximise their financial power under PSR and if he is reluctant to sign then he may be sacrificed.
Aston Villa have their own PSR concerns but they have been linked with Gallagher who will be part of England’s Euros squad this summer. Reece James has even been seen as a potential target but that would be unlikely even if it would help raise further cash.
Chelsea do want to strengthen the squad this summer with a No.9 and centre-half on their wish list but to be able to get prime targets they will have to offload. Nicolas Jackson did well overall across the season but they may yet want a proven striker to strengthen their chances of making the top four.
They also want to strengthen the defence while they may address the goalkeeping issue if they can reshuffle their pack this summer. It actually means that, despite huge spending under co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali and messages that they will be less busy in the transfer market, it could end up being a busy summer for Maresca.
However, part of the attraction of Maresca – who worked at Manchester City ’s academy and is seen as sharing the same philosophy as Pep Guardiola – is his ability to work with young players. Chelsea boast a young squad full of potential with the likes of Cole Palmer while his vision of how he wants to play and a determination to harness the current squad – including solving the puzzle of getting Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo to play together – was key.
Maresca, who played at West Brom for two years in a much-travelled playing career which also took in Juventus, Sevilla and Sampdoria and he represented Italy under-21s, has only been a manager for 18 months. He took charge of Parma before going to City and had a year at Leicester where leading them to promotion and an instant return to the Premier League was a major achievement.
But the chance to get a top job at Chelsea in the Premier League was always going to be impossible to resist despite their track record of hiring and firing managers with Mauricio Pochettino the latest in a long line of managers not to be given time.
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