Chelsea want to emulate Arsenal project by hiring 44-year-old manager who worked under Pep Guardiola: Reports
Chelsea are interested in copying Arsenal's project by appointing Enzo Maresca as their new manager, as per reputed journalist Ben Jacobs.
Earlier this Tuesday, the west London outfit shocked the world by parting ways with Mauricio Pochettino. The Blues' top brass reportedly had their share of differences with the Argentine, who helped the club finish sixth in the 2023-24 Premier League table with 63 points.
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jacobs revealed that Chelsea are keen to hire Maresca as their new boss owing to his past relationship with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. He elaborated:
"With Maresca, the appeal is that he's a Pep disciple. Chelsea have looked at the Arsenal model and the patience given to Mikel Arteta and the fact that he worked under Pep, and the belief within Chelsea is that the Arsenal project is coming to fruition now because there have been five years of patience with a manager that ticks those three boxes: football fit, personality fit, strategic fit."
Sharing more thoughts on the Blues' managerial hunt, Jacobs added:
"Of course, [the Blues] hoped that would be the case with [Graham] Potter. They hoped it would be the case for Pochettino, but the feeling is that they haven't quite found the right fit. But in managers like Maresca and [Kieran] McKenna, there's a sense that they can get it right, they can stabilize things and they can move forward in a long-term relationship with a young, progressive manager."
Maresca, 44, guided Leicester City to the EFL Championship title with a whopping 97 points this season, winning 31 of 46 league matches.
The Blues have allegedly earmarked Kieran McKenna, Thomas Frank, Roberto De Zerbi, and Sebastian Hoeness as other coaching options.
Emmanuel Petit urges former team Arsenal to sign Chelsea-linked star Victor Osimhen
Speaking to British betting platform BoyleSports, Emmanuel Petit urged Arsenal to sign Napoli superstar Victor Osimhen ahead of Chelsea this summer. He said (h/t Metro):
"I think Arsenal need a 30-goal striker to finally win the Premier League and that man could be Victor Osimhen, who has been amazing with Lille [and] then Napoli. His dream is to come to England and he could be brilliant here. He's physically so strong and is an out-and-out number nine, so he'd be my first choice."
Osimhen, 25, rose to fame after guiding Napoli to their first Serie A title in 33 years, netting 31 goals in 39 overall appearances last campaign.
So far this season, the Nigerian striker has found the back of the net 17 times in 31 games across competitions for Francesco Calzona's team.