03/01/2026
🔎 Inside Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea exit - via The Athletic - part 1/4:
There was no emotional goodbye from Enzo Maresca in the Chelsea dressing room after the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth.
The Italian got changed and left without saying a word to his players.
Initial suggestions that he was ill were a smokescreen. People with knowledge of Maresca’s situation say he was determined to leave at that stage. Meanwhile, Chelsea’s patience had also run out following what took place after the final whistle.
The Chelsea players were unaware of what was going on but knew something might be afoot on their journey home from Stamford Bridge. They received a message that a scheduled recovery session on Wednesday, which was to be followed by a day off, was suddenly being changed to two days off.
Talks took place on New Year’s Eve between Maresca’s agent Jorge Mendes and Chelsea over his departure instead. Some sources have said that Maresca resigned; other people at the club say the decision was taken by them.
The only thing to resolve now that he has left, with three and a half years left on his contract, was the level of compensation. It’s understood his deal will not be paid up in full and the settlement will not have a negative financial impact on the club.
Chelsea had given Maresca two votes of confidence before things went sour. One of those occasions was in the days after the 2-1 defeat at Atalanta on December 9, when he was assured his job was not at risk after he had conveyed concerns about what would happen if they lost their next match to Everton.
There had been some outbursts which did not go down well during his tenure. Just one example of this was talking about the club needing to buy a central defender following Levi Colwill’s anterior cruciate ligament injury in August.
While Maresca was consulted on transfers, his job was primarily to take charge of the team. He was told to use the several defenders he had.
Sources say this was a cause of angst between both parties for a while, although it dissipated. People with knowledge of Chelsea’s actions add that they did look for another defender but could not find a suitable candidate.
🔎 Inside Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea exit - via The Athletic - part 2/4:
Maresca had a very likeable personality at the training ground, which made him popular with a lot of the players.
Maresca demonstrated this in a light-hearted exchange before one press conference in August, away from the cameras. After getting out of his car with one of his sons, he was asked if the young man in question was a new signing. Maresca replied, “He is our new centre-back”.
Moments later, with the media briefing now underway, he was back in serious mode and making it clear a solution to Colwill’s prolonged absence would be found internally.
On his post-Everton comments:
People close to Maresca say his outburst was a reaction to the constant recommendations made by the medical department over the minutes players should play.
This was part of the medical department’s remit to help protect players with a history of injury or those coming back from injury to try and help them avoid any setbacks.
They would sit down with Maresca two days before every game to detail where every individual was at.
Earlier in the season, people at Chelsea said he had been doing a great job in terms of rotating the squad in general.
However, Chelsea sources say he went on to ignore instructions regarding the medical department’s recommendations on an individual’s playing time on more than one occasion. They say that the key issue was that players returning from injury were given a set number of minutes that they could play, and that players were on board.
However, Maresca would go beyond this amount, which would then mean the medical team would recommend different training for the next few days, and then the minutes set by the medical department for their next appearance would change.
Playing Reece James for the full 90 minutes for three games in a row in December (Bournemouth, Atalanta, Everton), which was the first time he had done that for two years due to hamstring issues, was one of the bones of contention.
It’s undesrstood Maresca was very concerned about the health of all Chelsea’s players, but that the recommendations by the medical department were a big part of why he wanted to leave.
🔎 Inside Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea exit - via The Athletic - part 3/4:
People with knowledge of Chelsea’s perspective say his reluctance or lack of trust to play some of the young players was cause for alarm. Just as an example, Andrey Santos, 21, Jorrel Hato, 19, and Josh Acheampong, 19, have started just 11 league games between them this season. Estevao, 18, has been one of the main positives, but has been in the first XI only 11 times in 28 matches.
People close to Maresca say he played them when it was relevant to show his trust in the young players — and that the impact medical department policy had on his selection decisions became a breaking point for him, especially as he faced all the criticism when results went awry.
Sources close to Maresca also claim that influence on selection was not just about workload, but that he was also told to use players to maintain their transfer value. Chelsea sources deny this is the case, but say any comments regarding selection came from the guidance provided by the medical department.
Maresca was encouraged to rotate the team to ensure freshness for the end of the season, as well as a general desire to develop and improve players. But he would select the team.
He was not happy about a lack of public backing from the club for his work. Chelsea felt their actions since he took over, including the conversations held with him, demonstrated that this should not have been the case.
Maresca would often speak to at least some members of the hierarchy after every game. The chats in the dressing room were normal and took place whatever the result. Club sources say the practice is about showing everyone, including the players, support, and not a case of grilling Maresca about what had just taken place.
Maresca had informed Chelsea that he was talking to people associated with Manchester City about his candidacy for the managerial position in the event of it opening in the future.
Maresca was contractually obliged to do so regarding dialogue with any other club. Sources say Juventus also made an approach.
Sources close to Maresca insist he made it clear that he had no intention of leaving and was happy to renew his deal.
