Chelsea Explores Enzo Maresca Appointment as Pochettino's Replacement

Chelsea Football Club announced the departure of Mauricio Pochettino as manager last Tuesday, and is now stepping up its interest in Enzo Maresca as a potential replacement. Maresca, currently at Leicester City, led the team back into the Premier League and had previously served as Pep Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City.

The club's co-owner, Behdad Eghbali, is currently in London overseeing the selection process for the new head coach. He is being assisted by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart. Key qualities sought in the new coach include the ability to engage with a possession-based football style, collaborative and collegiate way of work, capacity to cope with media spotlight, and readiness to challenge rivals such as Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta.

Previously leading candidates in the leadership race have included Kieran McKenna, Thomas Frank, and Sebastian Hoeness, but Maresca appears to be standing out from this prominent lineup.

Pochettino, on the other hand, is said to be enthusiastic about returning to work but specifies that it's too early to comment on any particular roles. Given his fondness for residing and working in England, it wouldn't be surprising to see him accept another Premier League position in the future. His mutual consent departure from Chelsea, however, has been described as "madness" by Paul Merson. Pochettino is reportedly appreciated by the owners, players, and fans of Chelsea and the club acknowledges that achieving targets as a Champions League club takes time. The club has learned this the hard way with changing managers seeming like a repeating pattern under their new ownership.