CHELSEA requested official permission to speak to Enzo Maresca.
The 44-year-old Italian has emerged as the favorite to replace Mauricio Pochettino after leading Leicester City to promotion.
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Now the Blues have asked the championship winners to speak to their boss about becoming their new manager.
Sun Sport understands that Maresca is close to leaving Leicester with negotiations between him and Chelsea at an advanced stage.
Todd Boehly and Clearlake will have to pay £10m compensation to get their man.
But that fee hasn’t put them off as Maresca is the preferred candidate, ahead of Brentford’s Roberto De Zerbi and Thomas Frank.
Kieran McKenna was also a candidate, but the man who has just led Ipswich Town to back-to-back promotions has dropped out of the race.
Maresca, who has a £10m release clause in his contract, moved from the Manchester City coaching team to the King Power last summer.
And he guided the club back to the Premier League at the first attempt as a title winner.
Maresca previously had a short spell as manager of Parma, as well as working as a manager at West Ham.
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Pochettino left the club on Tuesday by mutual consent following an end-of-season review with the owners and sporting directors.
We previously revealed how Chelsea’s owners are keen to have a new manager in place by the end of this week.
Now it is Maresca who looks set to become the third permanent managerial appointment from the club’s American owners.
In fact, he played in England for West Brom during his playing days, which also included winning the UEFA Cup with Sevilla.
His management career began at Italian club Ascoli before moving to Man City in 2020 to take charge of the Elite Development Squad.
He left briefly to return home and take up the role as Parma manager, but was sacked just a few months later after failing to impress.
This led to a return to Man City as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants for the 2022/23 season, which ended in treble glory before he moved to Leicester.
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Meanwhile, the Chelsea squad shared their shock when Pochettino’s departure was announced last week.
The Argentine, who was only in charge for one season, survived a poor start and ended up leading the club to sixth place in the Premier League.
They also reached the Carabao Cup final, where they lost to Liverpool, and the FA Cup semi-final.
He has also secured a return to European football next season courtesy of the Uefa Conference League.
Meet Pep Guardiola’s disciple, Enzo Maresca
Enzo Maresca is considered one of the most exciting young coaches on the planet.
Born in Italy in 1980, he managed to guide Leicester to the Championship title in his first season as Foxes manager.
His management career began at Italian minnows Ascoli, before being signed by Man City in 2020 to manage their Elite Development Squad.
He guided the youth team to the Premier League 2 title in his only season working for the Citizens – with Cole Palmer in the team.
His first senior job was at Parma, but he was sacked just months later after failing to impress.
Despite the Serie B team and Maresca having an impressive squad, he was unable to take them on the path to promotion.
He returned to Man City and worked as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants in the 2022/23 season in the Treble victory.
He took over at relegated Leicester last summer and made an immediate impact as the Foxes won the Championship title.
Maresca showed his dedication to his job by living at the training camp for the first two months after his appointment.
He is considered something of a disciple of Pep and said: “For a coach, it is important to have the mentality of a chess player.”
During his playing career he played with Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi – and alongside former Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi.
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