Chelsea were satisfied with Maresca at the end of last season when he delivered Champions League qualification – regarded internally as his most important achievement – plus success in the Conference League and Club World Cup.
While victory in Europe’s third-tier competition was broadly expected, beating Paris St-Germain to be crowned ‘world champions’ was a welcome surprise.
Maresca had delighted key figures at Stamford Bridge – including sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Lawrence Stewart, and influential co-owner Behdad Eghbali.
In line with the agreed strategy when the Italian moved from Leicester City in 2024 – for which the club paid £10m – he focused on coaching while those above him oversaw much of the backroom staff, medical department and transfers.
Maresca knew what he was signing up for in terms of the transfer policy – signing the world’s best young players from ‘lesser’ leagues to create the youngest team in the Premier League – and his issues were not with the quality of players or the strategy, but about the perception of his work with a young group. Maresca also did not expect decisions on team selection to be influenced.
This season, he and his agent had informed the club on two occasions of interest from Manchester City. Chelsea noted it came at a time when City boss Pep Guardiola had said Maresca was the best manager in the league.
Maresca had also notified the club of interest from Juventus, as well as his willingness to stay despite interest from two of Europe’s biggest clubs.
He indicated speculation would end if he was handed a new contract. He was only 18 months into his initial deal and contracted until 2029.
Difficulties remained in his working relationship with the Chelsea ownership.
The Italian was encouraged to rotate his squad, but often felt that when he did so in the Premier League, they dropped points. He openly urged reporters to question the club’s hierarchy but there was frustration each time Maresca sought to make his complaints public rather than discussing internally first.
He later admitted his comments after the Everton match were premeditated – rejecting the club’s claim they were an emotional outburst after a tense match.
After winning two trophies in his first two seasons, Maresca wanted to be seen as more than a project-focused manager, and believes the club stopped him raising his profile.
The Italian wanted to take on some external engagements and had floated the idea of publishing a book but was blocked by the club – though this is a claim a source close to Maresca denies. He also spoke at Il Festival dello Sport – an event in Italy organised by La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper – without their permission.
He also made public that he disagreed with the club not signing a central defender after Levi Colwill injured his anterior cruciate ligament in pre-season. The club’s hierarchy explained that doing so could prompt academy prospect Josh Acheampong to request a transfer, which ultimately led Maresca to back down.
Those close to Maresca, who has switched agents from the Wasserman agency to Jorge Mendes, made it known he was weighing up his future.
The last week seemed to be the turning point in Maresca’s mind, with Chelsea more keen to make any change of manager in the summer.
The home supporters, who Maresca holds in high regard, booed his decisions to take off Cole Palmer in a defeat by Aston Villa and the draw with Bournemouth.
Maresca was reportedly told by the medical department he needed to make that change, despite insisting in his news conference his star attacker could complete 90 minutes if he wanted to.