Leicester City Set to Name Manchester City assistant coach as New Boss

Treble-winning Manchester City assistant coach Enzo Maresca is set to be appointed Leicester City manager after agreeing terms with the Foxes.

The 43-year-old Italian could be named the new boss as early as Friday, report BBC Radio Leicester.

If so, it would come six days after Manchester City's Champions League win.

He would replace interim boss Dean Smith, who oversaw just two victories from eight games in a failed attempt to keep the Foxes in the Premier League.

Smith took the job in April following Brendan Rodgers' dismissal after four years in charge.

Maresca's move to the King Power Stadium would bring an end to a hugely successful year as part of Pep Guardiola's backroom team in what was his second stint as a coach at Manchester City, having previously worked as their Under-23s boss.

He had an unsuccessful 180-day spell as Parma boss in 2021, overseeing just four wins from 14 games after they were relegated from Serie A.

Leicester are back in the Championship for the first time in 10 years after a disastrous campaign that saw them finish 18th in the table with just nine Premier League wins.

Relegation brought a miserable end to decade of unparalleled success for the club.

After promotion as Championship title winners in 2014, the Foxes went on to become unlikely Premier League champions two years later before then going on to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, win the FA Cup and reach the semi-finals of a European competition for the first time in 2022.

The Italian has had a long association with English football during what has been an eclectic playing and coaching career.

He was a teenage midfielder when he joined West Bromwich Albion, a stay that lasted less than two years before he went on to join Juventus.

A number of loan spells followed, before he moved to Spain to play for Sevilla, where he won five trophies - including the Uefa Cup twice.

His four successful seasons there is the longest he has remained at one club.

Maresca had spells at Olympiakos in Greece, a return to Spain with Malaga before going back to Italy where he eventually ended his playing career in Serie B with Hellas Verona in 2017.

His coaching career has been just as diverse, starting as assistant manager at Ascoli, before going back to Sevilla as a coach and then moving to England as West Ham assistant boss under Manuel Pellegrini.

His first experience as a first-team manager proved miserable, at Parma, but working with Guardiola he helped Manchester City to reach new heights with their Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League success.