Leicester City are waiting on Chelsea’s decision on potentially hiring Enzo Maresca as their new manager after some positive talks took place, according to transfer news expert Fabrizio Romano.
The Foxes boss impressed at the King Power Stadium in the season just gone, helping Leicester win the Championship and earn promotion straight back to the Premier League after the blow of relegation at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
Maresca looks like he could be a strong candidate for this exciting long-term Chelsea project, but it’s not yet clear if he will be the candidate the Blues go for, and so Leicester are waiting on a decision before then turning to a replacement manager of their own, according to Romano as he spoke exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column.
Romano also addressed links with departing Barcelona manager Xavi and other big-name candidates to be linked with the vacancy at Stamford Bridge.
Maresca to Chelsea latest, plus truth about Xavi links
While it seems nothing is decided yet, the signs at the moment seem to point towards Maresca being the favourite.
“We keep hearing so many stories about the Chelsea manager situation, which is normal of course after the departure of Mauricio Pochettino, and with so many other clubs also changing managers this summer, but I wanted to clarify some things here,” Romano said.
“Xavi has also been linked with the Chelsea job but again I’m not hearing anything concrete on that one. Xavi is open to opportunities after leaving Barcelona, but at the moment it’s all quiet there and I have no news on any talks taking place or being planned with Chelsea.
“So, the situation is that Chelsea are interested in Enzo Maresca and he’s also interested in the Chelsea job after positive contacts took place over the weekend. It’s now up to Chelsea – decision time is coming soon, and Leicester are waiting to see what happens there before they then decide on who to hire as a replacement.”