Manchester City have a new sheriff in town for the upcoming 2026-27 Premier League season, as Enzo Maresca replaces Pep Guardiola as Sky Blues head coach. Guardiola has served 10 years at the Etihad and will leave them in a much better place, especially after winning six league trophies and one Champions League, among other accomplishments.
This is essentially a step up for Maresca, as he was Guardiola’s assistant for a couple of years before getting his big break at Chelsea. Because of their relationship, it feels fitting to have Maresca as Guardiola’s heir apparent.
Now that the dust has settled, Maresca will have his work cut out for him, as Sky Blues fans have higher expectations this time. He faces the challenge of stepping out of Guardiola’s shadow as he creates new memories on the blue side of Manchester.
Today, SBOTOP examines how Manchester City will look under the new regime.
Maresca’s journey before taking the reins at Manchester City
Before becoming a football coach, Enzo Maresca played professional football for 19 years, during which he played in England, Italy, Spain, and Greece. Upon retiring, Maresca worked as an assistant at Ascoli, Sevilla, and West Ham United before joining Manchester City’s youth system.
Maresca won the Premier League 2 title in his only season in charge of the Sky Blues’ youth team in 2020-21 before taking his first head coach job at Parma. However, after failing to lead Parma into the promotion spots, Maresca returned to the Etihad to work with Pep Guardiola in 2022.
In 2023, Maresca moved to Leicester City, where he won the 2023-24 EFL Championship. After helping the Foxes secure promotion, he then took the head coach job at Chelsea, where he won the team’s first-ever UEFA Conference League trophy and the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
However, Maresca didn’t last long at Stamford Bridge. He stepped down last January, citing tensions with the team’s owners, and now he’s back again at the Etihad on a three-year contract as head coach. It helped that Guardiola endorsed Maresca as his heir apparent, especially since both coaches have similar tactics.
Manchester City have been fairly busy in the transfer market
After appointing Maresca, Manchester City’s next task is to build a proper squad to back the Italian. This summer, they’ve let go of Bernardo Silva, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, and John Stones while poaching Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for a staggering £116 million – beating the previous club record of their £100 million purchase of Jack Grealish in 2021.
In other Premier League 2026 news, the Sky Blues also signed youngsters Jeremy Monga, Pierce Charles, and Mathys Detourbet for a total of roughly €40 million. However, don’t expect them to assume big roles in the first team this upcoming season.
It seems that Manchester City are far from done this summer, as they’ve been linked to Malo Gusto, Fede Valverde, Ibrahim Mbaye, Noah Sadiki, and Francisco Trincao, among others. Meanwhile, the Sky Blues are also labeled as a long-shot landing spot for Harry Kane (if he somehow decides to leave Bayern Munich).
Omar Marmoush’s future at the Etihad is also up in the air, as his minutes under Pep Guardiola have been lacking. Sources close to Marmoush indicate that he’s keen to learn exactly what role he’ll play under Maresca before making his decision about moving to another club, with Newcastle United and Tottenham among those reportedly interested.
How high can Manchester City go under Maresca?
After winning four straight league titles, Manchester City finished second behind Arsenal this past season. Nothing really changed about their outlook this upcoming season, even with a coaching change, because the pre-season Premier League 2026 odds have the Sky Blues at least up there with the Gunners at the top of the English top-flight standings, with Manchester United, Liverpool, and Aston Villa being the distant challengers.
Manchester City still have a pretty solid core of Erling Haaland, who dazzled in his World Cup debut with Norway, Omar Marmoush, Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden, Matheus Nunes, Rodri, Jack Grealish, Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, Antoine Semenyo, Josko Gvardiol, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico O’Reilly, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marc Guehi, Ruben Dias, Rico Lewis, and Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The Sky Blues could also contend for the other trophies, such as the EFL Cup, FA Cup, and Champions League. They are deep enough to try for a historic treble. However, unlike in the past under Pep Guardiola, they have a smaller margin for error, and they’ll need a huge amount of luck along the way.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
