'Too late' – Manchester United expressed interest in Italian coach before he accepted rival job
Today at 10:17 AM
Football journalist Guillem Balague believes Manchester United held an interest in Enzo Maresca in the summer.
Maresca had impressed at Leicester City before arriving at Chelsea before the start of the 2024/25 season.
Chelsea are currently third in the Premier League after a strong start under Maresca, but their form is still pretty hit-and-miss after winning just five of their first 11 league matches.
Balague, who has studied Maresca as a coach, shed light on how the Italian coach ended up joining Chelsea despite an enquiry from United.
United's interest came too late – but it is worth remembering INEOS stuck with Erik ten Hag in the summer, even though they met with several managerial candidates, including Thomas Tuchel.
INEOS changed their mind earlier this month when they sacked Erik ten Hag following a controversial 2-1 defeat to West Ham at the London Stadium.
Manchester United too late to Enzo Maresca race
Speaking on today's Debrief podcast, Balague said: "The profile that Chelsea were looking for also fitted with Enzo, because they were looking for a young manager with the right ideas that will work with the structure of the club.
"And will work with young people, and will not be kind of doing politics to try to get more players or the kind of things that sometimes breaks relationships.
"So…they had all of that in Enzo. And if there was proof that his profile was sought after, that just before he shook hands with Chelsea, Manchester United called. And it was too late."
United turned their attention to Ruben Amorim after sacking Ten Hag, and I don't know a single fan who would take Maresca over the Portuguese coach.
Maresca high-flying Chelsea were lucky to come away from Old Trafford with a point this season, so it's not all perfect at Stamford Bridge. Far from it.
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