Manchester City will pay Chelsea £17 million in compensation for poaching Enzo Maresca..

The Athletic exclusively reported on Tuesday that Manchester City will pay Chelsea £17 million in compensation for poaching new Italian head coach Enzo Maresca.

According to the report, immediately after Manchester City announced Maresca's appointment as their new head coach, Chelsea released an official statement criticizing the coach.

The statement claimed that Maresca knew beforehand that Pep Guardiola would be leaving this summer and had been secretly discussing with the Cityzens about becoming his successor.

Although he confessed this to the management in the autumn, the "serious disruption" caused by this affair, coupled with the team's subsequent precipitous decline in performance, ultimately forced the management to replace their manager mid-season despite knowing the risk and resolutely part ways with Maresca.

Throughout the statement, Chelsea even referred to Maresca as "our former head coach", clearly demonstrating the Blues' depth of resentment towards the former Leicester City manager.

Following the incident, Maresca posted a now-deleted statement on his official Instagram account and apologized to Chelsea for the "serious disruption" he had caused to the team.

Maresca wrote: "At the end of December 2025, I made the difficult decision to leave Chelsea."

"This was my own decision. My resignation from Chelsea paved the way for my move to Manchester City, a club I know very well. I am delighted to join Manchester City now. I realize that leaving Chelsea mid-season caused the club trouble, and I deeply apologize for that. It was not my intention."

"I was treated very well by everyone at Chelsea, we achieved great success together, and I have many memories that I will cherish forever. I thank the club, the owners, and the fans for the opportunity they gave me."

Manchester City later released a statement on their official website acknowledging that their management had secretly poached Maresca, indirectly causing "serious disruption" to Chelsea's season.

Furthermore, the report added that to mitigate the unpleasantness caused by this incident, Manchester City will compensate Chelsea £17 million for poaching Maresca. 

It's worth mentioning that this wasn't the sole reason for the complete breakdown of Maresca's relationship with Chelsea.

After his dismissal, several British media outlets exclusively reported that another reason for the falling out between Maresca and the Blues was the club's owner, Behdad Eghbali, and his partners.

The reports stated that since Egbali and Todd Boehly tookover the club, the management only focused on spending money to acquire as many wonderkids as possible, exhibiting a severe tendency to marginalize existing and older players, and habitually interfering in the club's operations. These improper methods deepened the rift between Maresca and the club.

Subsequently, as the team frequently found itself in a state of instability due to these issues. Coupled with factors such as Guardiola's potential resignation and the possibility of Maresca becoming his successor, it's not difficult to understand why the differences between Maresca and Chelsea intensified.

The 45-year-old Maresca will replace current United States national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino as Chelsea head coach in June 2024.

During his 18-months at the helm, Maresca managed the Premier League giants in 92 matches across all competitions, achieving 55 wins, 16 draws, and 21 losses, with a win percentage of 59.78%, where he helped the Blues achieve a UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup double.

Image source: Internet / Manchester City official website