REVEALED: Internal disagreement, cause of Maresca’s departure from Chelsea

Enzo Maresca left Chelsea on Thursday after 18 months in charge. Maresca had disagreements with the medical staff and informed the club of interest from two rival clubs in recent months. Liam Rosenior is the favourite to replace the Italian.

The manager decided to step down from his role as Chelsea head coach because he felt his position was untenable, while it has been revealed that his cryptic criticism earlier this month was directed at the club’s medical team.

Maresca departed Chelsea on New Year’s Day after a breakdown in relations with the club and a run of disappointing results — one win from the last seven Premier League games — that has left them 15 points adrift of leaders Arsenal.

Chelsea are unlikely to pursue Oliver Glasner, Cesc Fàbregas, Andoni Iraola or Roberto De Zerbi, with Rosenior now considered the frontrunner for the job.

Chelsea were already considering sacking Maresca due to poor results, his comments in the media, disagreements with the medical team and reports linking him with other clubs.

After the 2-0 home victory over Everton in mid-December, Maresca stunned reporters by saying he had endured his “worst 48 hours” at the club and that “many people didn’t support us”.

The head coach then declined several opportunities to expand on his comments.

Medical staff disagreements and rival interest

Maresca had several disagreements with the Chelsea medical department about the fitness and availability of players during his time at the club.

From Chelsea’s perspective, these were only disagreements about detailed recommendations from the club’s medical and performance departments about player workload, and they were not anyone interfering in the head coach making football decisions.

Regarding reports linking Maresca with other clubs, he and his agent are believed to have informed Chelsea about interest from at least two Champions League clubs in recent months.

At the same time, they made it clear that Maresca had no intention of leaving and that he was willing to discuss a possible contract renewal.

As Maresca was already tied down to a long-term contract until 2030, which had only been signed in the summer of 2024, Chelsea were not willing to give him a new deal to stop talks with other clubs.

Maresca’s final game in charge was Chelsea’s 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth, during which the home crowd booed and chanted “you don’t know what you’re doing” when he substituted Palmer.

Sky Sports News chief correspondent Kaveh Solhekol gave more insight.

“The latest information I have is that Enzo Maresca decided to step down as he felt his position was untenable. It doesn’t usually happen that a Premier League boss walks away from a club.

“But I believe it is not as clear-cut as that. Chelsea were considering making a change. There were issues with results and comments he made in the media, and also the fact he had been linked with other jobs.

“There are key people at Chelsea who are impressed by the job Liam Rosenior has done at Strasbourg. His style of football is the same as Chelsea play. The only problem is he has a job at the moment and has a big game against Nice at the weekend.

“He is the leading candidate. Other names I have heard mentioned that are unlikely are Oliver Glasner, Cesc Fàbregas, Andoni Iraola and Roberto De Zerbi.

“Chelsea have a small shortlist — less than a handful of candidates. They have been vetting the candidates and have a contingency plan.

“The next appointment will be a permanent head coach and he will need to fit under the exact same structure that Maresca was working under.

“But I don’t think they can make an appointment in time for Man City on Sunday.”