Reports indicated that Chelsea have confirmed Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca is set to replace Mauricio Pochettino.

The Italian becomes the fourth permanent manager of the Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali era since the club was taken over in 2022.

 Maresca has signed a five-year deal with the west London outfit, with the option of a sixth – which could take him until June 2030 – illustrating the Blues’ long-term thinking with the appointment.

Formerly assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, the ex-Leicester City chief comes into the job having led the Foxes to the Championship title and promotion to the English top flight.

Chelsea’s high spending has been a big topic of discussion in the Boehly era and it looks as though their finances will take another hit as they will reportedly have to stump up somewhere between £8m-£10m to land the Italian from Leicester City.

Compared to some footballers, this might not seem like such a big fee but in the world of managers, it’s quite a sizable chunk. In fact, it could potentially be the fifth biggest fee ever paid for a coach, with Vincent Kompany’s recent £10.2m move (4th) to Bayern Munich just ahead of Arne Slot (5th) after his arrival at Liverpool for £9.4m.

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