Carlton Palmer has reacted to the news that Sevilla are keen to take Maresca to Spain
Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca had a successful campaign in his first full season as head coach, guiding the Foxes to the Championship title and an immediate Premier League return despite a late wobble on the pitch.
Despite three losses in their last six games, including a final day defeat to Blackburn Rovers, the King Power Stadium outfit finished top of the pile in the second tier, having accumulated 97 points from their 46 league games.
Although the Foxes suffered 11 defeats during the 2023/24 campaign, they played fantastic football at times, as demonstrated when they hammered fellow promotion hopefuls Southampton 5-0 on April 23.
Many Championship opponents found Maresca’s tactics tricky to deal with throughout the campaign, such as his use of Ricardo Pereira and Hamza Choudhury as inverted full-backs.
This is a tactic Maresca lifted directly from the Pep Guardiola playbook, having been Manchester City’s assistant manager from 2022-23, and one which is not as commonly deployed in the second tier as it is in the top-flight.
Due to his successful exploits with the Foxes, Maresca has been linked with a move to Sevilla, with the Mail Online reporting that the La Liga side are monitoring him as current boss Quique Sanchez Flores likely to depart.
Carlton Palmer reacts to Enzo Maresca, Sevilla links
Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Carlton Palmer believes that Maresca will not be heading to mainland Europe and will be carrying on his work in the East Midlands.
“It’s reported that Sevilla are monitoring the situation with Enzo Maresca, the Leicester City manager, who has got Leicester promoted back to the Premier League at the first time of asking,” Palmer said to FLW.
“Obviously, there’s certain situations that are going to happen for next season, which obviously need to be ironed out with Leicester looking at maybe points (deductions), talking about having to sell players.
“I think these are just talks that are going to be had at the end of the season about where Leicester are going to be in terms of recruiting players.
“After getting promoted, you want to be able to at least retain your Premier League status and to do that, then you have to recruit better players, and you have to keep better players.
“There was talk of (Kiernan) Dewsbury-Hall having to be sold because of Financial Fair Play.
“So, obviously there will be some concern from the Leicester City supporters, but this is also a great opportunity for Enzo Maresca to manage in the Premier League, which is the best league in the world.
“So, of course, I think the conversations will have to take place about the way to go forward, how to avoid relegation, how to stay in the Premier League.
“But I’m very confident that Enzo Maresca will still be manager of Leicester City come the start of next season.”
Enzo Maresca should want to stay with Leicester City
Maresca has thrived at the King Power Stadium so far, and has guided the side to silverware in his first season at the helm, but as mentioned by Palmer, trickier times could be around the corner for the 44-year-old.
As reported by the Leicester Mercury, the club have been subject to financial difficulties, as the club announced an £89.7 million loss, which means the Foxes have lost £182 million over the last two seasons (prior to the 2023-24 campaign).
However, Maresca has an exciting opportunity on his hands to remain with the Foxes and continue his journey with the Midlands outfit in the Premier League.
The prospect of being a first-team manager in the top flight with the side he has won promotion with is surely something that the Argentine will not want to pass him by.
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