Guardiola ‘exit truth’ revealed as Chelsea’s Maresca ‘review’ brought forward amid ‘two-man shortlist’

According to reports, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca features on a ‘two-man shortlist’ of potential replacements for Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.

Maresca is one of Guardiola’s many disciples as they worked together at Man City before the Chelsea boss turned to senior management.

The Blues chief did a great job at Leicester City before being named as Mauricio Pochettino’s replacement at Stamford Bridge ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

Maresca has had a mixed stint at Stamford Bridge, as he has not been without his critics due to poor form and decisions at times, but he has credit in the bank after winning the Club World Cup and Europa Conference League.

The head coach was back under pressure ahead of last weekend as Chelsea were on a four-game winless run and lost two of these games, but they beat Everton on Saturday and Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.

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After Chelsea’s win against Everton, Maresca appeared to fire a dig at club chiefs as he was coming off the “worst 48 hours” of his time at Stamford Bridge, alluding to a lack of backing.

There was a further development on Thursday, with respected journalist David Ornstein revealing that Maresca is ‘high among the candidates’ to replace Guardiola at Man City.

Journalist Ben Jacobs has since indicated that Chelsea want to keep Maresca, though his ‘frustrations have been brewing for a while’.

Jacobs said on X: ‘Chelsea declined to comment. Maresca is contracted until 2030 and any approach for him would need to take place via Chelsea and require significant compensation.

‘#MCFC sources note Pep is contracted beyond this summer and refused to be drawn on speculation. Chelsea want to keep Maresca, and a pre-planned review on his performance is set for this summer.

‘Maresca’s comments after Everton on it being his “worst 48 hours” at Chelsea have puzzled several at the club. Unclear if driven by a potential vacancy at his former club. Understand some of Maresca’s frustrations have been brewing for a while, although Chelsea insiders insist it was an emotional reaction to a big win.’

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Jacobs alluded to an end-of-season ‘review’, but an insider on X with a ‘team of five elite reporters’ and over 690k followers claims his ‘position’ will actually be ‘reviewed in February’ as there are ‘issues behind the scenes’.

Regarding Man City, a report from journalist Graeme Bailey for our pals at TEAMtalk claims Maresca and Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany are on a ‘two-man shortlist’ to replace Guardiola, while he has explained the ‘exit truth’ regarding the world-class boss.

Bailey explained: ‘A Man City source has confirmed to us that is completely usual for any club and it does not mean that Guardiola will leave in 2026. Guardiola’s current contract runs until June 2027, a deal he signed in 2024 prior to Viana’s arrival last year.

‘We understand that 54-year-old Guardiola is at the point in his career where he is very happy, but does consider his situation every summer. City are aware that Guardiola could look to step back from management in 2026, and as such a list has been made up by Viana.’