All Change! Premier League Undergoes Postseason Managerial Upheaval With Maresca Set for Chelsea

Leicester's head coach Enzo Maresca applauds fans at the end of the English League Cup third round soccer match between Liverpool and Leicester City at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, on Sept. 27, 2023. Jon Super/AP Photo

Liverpool has already made the change. Chelsea is closing in on its new guy. Manchester United has yet to decide whether to stick or twist.

There is unprecedented managerial upheaval in the English Premier League at the moment, with five of the top 11 teams potentially having new coaches at the start of next season and another of them having changed managers only a few months ago.

Liverpool and West Ham have acted quickly, replacing Jurgen Klopp and David Moyes with Arne Slot and Julen Lopetegui, respectively.

Chelsea is reportedly in negotiations with Enzo Maresca, who has just led Leicester back into the Premier League, about replacing Mauricio Pochettino after he left his position last week.

Brighton is looking for a new manager to take over from Roberto De Zerbi, while Man United is conducting a review to assess whether or not to keep Erik ten Hag, who won the FA Cup last weekend but oversaw the team’s worst league season in 34 years.

As for Crystal Palace, manager Oliver Glasner has been in place for only three months after coming in for Roy Hodgson.

Here’s a closer look at some of the changes that could be happening over the next few days and weeks:

Guardiola Disciples

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is set to be facing off against another of his former assistants.

Maresca was the No. 2 to Guardiola at City for the 2022-23 season, only to choose to make his own way in coaching and—while playing a distinctly Guardiola style of play—guide Leicester back to the Premier League in his first year in charge.

Now Maresca appears to be on his way to Chelsea, which reportedly made an official approach on Monday to talk to Maresca. Neither Chelsea nor Leicester has officially commented on the move but sections of the British media are reporting that a deal could be reached this week.

Chelsea owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali will hope Maresca fits into the team’s leadership structure better than Pochettino, whose relationship with the hierarchy appeared to break down by the end of his one and only season in charge of a club that has spent more than $1 billion on new players in the new regime.

Guardiola is already pitting his wits against Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager who was at City under Guardiola from 2016-19.

United’s Big Decision

Ten Hag hasn’t waited for United to make a decision. He has already gone on vacation, content with winning a trophy for the second straight season in his time at Old Trafford—even if, for many, that doesn’t make up for a woeful Premier League campaign that saw the team finish in eighth place.

Still, finishing the season strongly—United also won its last two league games—has given Jim Ratcliffe, the club’s new co-owner and in charge of football operations, some thinking to do. Especially with the FA Cup victory coming over Manchester City, of all clubs, and perhaps swaying fans’ opinions of Ten Hag.

United has been linked with De Zerbi, former Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel as well as Kieran McKenna, a former United assistant coach who has just led Ipswich to the Premier League after back-to-back promotions.

McKenna has also been linked to the Brighton vacancy, with De Zerbi having already left Amex Stadium after two years in charge.

Player Trading

Managerial moves may yet be more interesting than those involving players during this offseason.

English clubs are having to be more careful than ever in the transfer market, given the Premier League is clamping down harder on its financial rules that limit teams to a loss of no more than 105 million pounds ($133 million) over a three-year period.

Everton and Nottingham Forest have already fallen foul of those regulations and received points deductions last season, while the likes of Aston Villa, Newcastle and Man United might be needing to tread carefully over the next year.

In January, Premier League teams spent less than 100 million pounds ($127 million) combined on new signings—the lowest total outlay in three years in that winter window—most probably because of the financial rules hurting their spending power.

Across Europe

It’s not only in England where big managerial jobs are up for grabs.

Bayern Munich is looking for a new coach—and has reportedly set its sights on Vincent Kompany, the Man City playing great who recently led Burnley into the Premier League only to get relegated after one season.

In Spain, Barcelona has just fired Xavi Hernandez to leave a vacancy open.

In Italy, AC Milan and Juventus are without coaches.

By  Steve Douglas