One Friday in August, Daily Mail Sport was at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground and a tad early for that day’s press conference when we bumped into Enzo Maresca in the car park.
The father-of-four had pulled up in his Mercedes people carrier and was with his son, who was a polite young man in wishing us a good morning and asking how we were.
We jokingly asked Maresca if this was his newest signing. He looked the part, after all. Young, and already wearing a club tracksuit. ‘Yes!’ Maresca replied. ‘It’s my new centre back!’
That conversation clashed with the press conference which followed as Maresca claimed he never said he wanted to sign a replacement for Levi Colwill after his ACL injury, somewhat backtracking on what he had told the journalists present the previous week.
It was a telling morning. Maresca never got his centre back as Chelsea believed he had enough existing options as cover for Colwill, and so, not for the first or last time, the Italian hid behind the excuse that we had misunderstood what he meant as English remained an awkward language for him.
If Maresca longed for greater control at Chelsea, after leading the club into the Champions League and winning the Conference League then Club World Cup, he would have done well to get it.
Enzo Maresca’s time is up at Chelsea after a spectacular breakdown in his relationship with his bosses at Stamford Bridge
Maresca knew Chelsea’s way of working when he signed his five-year contract in June 2024 and cannot claim the goalposts were moved. His title was ‘head coach’, and coaching the players was his primary remit
He knew Chelsea’s way of working when he signed his five-year contract in June 2024 and cannot claim the goalposts were moved. His title was ‘head coach’, and coaching the players provided to him was his primary remit, rather than scouting and signing targets personally.
He did not speak to Alejandro Garnacho before he was brought in from Manchester United, for example. That purchase was put to him for his opinion, and Maresca agreed he was worth signing, but the time for talking would come once he had him on the training pitch.
Instead, it is understood Maresca’s greatest gripe lay elsewhere, as we will explain.
When Maresca refused to speak to the media after Tuesday’s disappointing 2-2 draw with Bournemouth – citing an illness which Chelsea insiders have now told us did not exist – he had his assistant, Willy Caballero, conduct interviews instead. Sources say they that found unprofessional, disrespectful and unfair on Caballero, who had to tell fibs for his colleague’s benefit.
Perhaps Maresca did not trust what he would say once the cameras were rolling. His words had invited issues before. Not only when calling for a new centre back, but on other occasions, such as claiming the Chelsea hierarchy had never set him the target of chasing the Champions League in his first campaign in charge, or when predicting Liverpool were impossible to stop in the Premier League as early as September in his second season.
The biggest storm he sparked, however, came with his ‘worst 48 hours’ comments after their 2-0 win over Everton which represented Chelsea’s one and only Premier League victory in December. That outburst blindsided the Blues. We tried our best to have Maresca clarify his complaints to us in the media, but he refused to do so. Club insiders also urged him to explain them so they too could understand why he was upset, but again, he refused.
When deciding to separate on New Year’s Day, however, we are told Chelsea finally discovered the reason behind his ‘worst 48 hours’. Maresca was not aiming those words at the co-owner Behdad Eghbali, or the co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, or the recruitment specialists such as Joe Shields and Sam Jewell, all of whom regularly visit the Chelsea changing room after matches, whether they win, draw or lose.
They were to do with the medical advice he was receiving for players returning from injury. Before every game, Maresca would have a briefing in which he was told how many minutes certain individuals could manage. He might be advised Reece James could handle 45 minutes maximum, for example. It would then be up to him if he used his captain for the first or second half.
Maresca’s ‘worst 48 hours’ outburst was to do with the medical advice he was receiving for players returning from injury
Marc Cucurella was the first Chelsea player to thank Maresca for his help
However, Daily Mail Sport has been told that Maresca did not always heed that advice and, potentially at the risk of re-injury, there were times when he used players for longer than the medical department would have liked. That did not go down well internally.
Neither did the links between Maresca and Manchester City which, despite the Italian dismissing the reports as speculation, were real. Chelsea feared his head had been turned by the prospect of potentially replacing Pep Guardiola at the end of this season. It coincided with Maresca changing representatives during this campaign, teaming up with the super agent Jorge Mendes.
He also began trying to improve his outside image, including hiring a company to manage his new Instagram account. It is believed he may have been interested in publishing a book after Chelsea’s successful summer – an idea which was apparently blocked – and also spoke at an event in Italy with the La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper without apparently informing the club.
While friendly enough with those who covered Chelsea the closest, Maresca tried to avoid conducting more media than contractually obliged. When they reached the Club World Cup final in the summer, it is understood Maresca was asked if he would agree to a sit-down interview with the written journalists who had spent the last month following his side in the United States. He declined. We had half hour in the company of Marc Cucurella in New York instead. A lovely chap, Cucurella was the first player to wish Maresca well on social media after his Chelsea exit was confirmed.
Chelsea defended Maresca several times during his time in charge. When there was widespread criticism of his constant rotations, for example, Daily Mail Sport received a call from one source explaining why it was a club-wide approach. We were told it would be unfair to pin it purely on Maresca. Chelsea also backed him last winter when he went through a similarly tricky spell.
Handed the chance after coaching Leicester in the Championship, Maresca had to cope with the pressure of leading a big club. At the end of last season, when a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest confirmed they had clinched Champions League football, Daily Mail Sport asked him how proud he was that such a young side could achieve that target. He used his answer to say ‘eff off’ to his critics.
During Tuesday’s draw with Bournemouth, however, the criticism was louder than ever.
Supporters booed his decision to substitute Cole Palmer after 63 minutes and sang: ‘You don’t know what you’re doing.’ We do not know whether Maresca had been told by Chelsea’s medical team that Palmer was only fit enough to feature for an hour or so.
When Chelsea reached the Club World Cup final in the summer, it is understood Maresca was asked if he would agree to a sit-down interview with the written journalists. He declined
Chelsea supporters booed Maresca’s decision to substitute Cole Palmer after 63 minutes against Bournemouth and sang: ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’
But there was a time when Maresca warned Leicester fans he would look for the exit if they ever questioned his wisdom. ‘The moment there is some doubt about the idea, the day after, I will leave,’ he said at the time. He has now departed within two days of being loudly criticised at Stamford Bridge.
In the end, Chelsea were good for Maresca, and Maresca was good for Chelsea, that one full season together yielding success. Whether you saw it as a true competition or a FIFA vanity project, they became the champions of the world, and will continue to carry a badge on their shirts saying so.
Daily Mail Sport sent a text to Maresca a week after Chelsea won the Club World Cup to thank him for his help over the last season. He replied thoughtfully while enjoying a break with his family, including saying he hoped for many more good moments in the next campaign.
Unfortunately for him and Chelsea, those good times failed to follow.
