Photo: The White House / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
Enzo Maresca held his first press conference as Manchester City manager on Friday, outlining an attacking, possession-based philosophy and making clear that results come first. The Italian was appointed in June on a three-year contract, succeeding Pep Guardiola in the Etihad Stadium dugout.
"We always try to be aggressive off the ball, control the game and be the ones to impose our ideas and try to do the most important thing, which is win football games in the end," Maresca said. He added that his approach was consistent with what he implemented at his previous clubs: "It was a clear identity at former clubs I joined, Leicester and Chelsea, probably the reason City came to me is a similar concept with the previous manager."
Maresca previously led Leicester to the Championship title in 2023/24 before taking charge of Chelsea, where he guided the club to the UEFA Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup between 2024 and 2025. This is his third spell at City overall, having earlier coached the Elite Development Squad and served on Guardiola's backroom staff in 2022/23.
City's pre-season began earlier this week, though Maresca has been working without a full squad due to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which has extended the rest periods for players involved in the tournament. A number of academy players have stepped up to fill the gap in the interim.
"The last group of players are going to join us three or four days before the Community Shield final and then we'll have all the players, until then I am working with many young players," Maresca said. "Full of energy, some of them very good. I'm very happy."