- Enzo Maresca will become Man City’s next manager
- He will replace the departing Pep Guardiola
- Jamie Vardy draws comparison between the bosses
Jamie Vardy has commented on how similar Enzo Maresca is to the manager he is about to succeed at Manchester City.
Silence surrounds the Etihad Stadium, with very little going on in regards to the managerial position since Pep Guardiola announced his exit.
Maresca’s future appointment became known shortly afterwards, but he is still yet to be officially announced as the new head coach.
In the meantime, former Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has provided some insight into Maresca, from when he played under him at the Foxes.
Jamie Vardy compares Enzo Maresca with Pep Guardiola
Maresca has obviously taken some inspiration from Guardiola, having previously worked as his assistant at Man City.
However, it goes much further than this, as according to Vardy, the Italian is actually the spitting image of City’s manager of 10 years.
Will Enzo Maresca become the next Pep Guardiola for Manchester City?👀
— The Vardy Party (@VardyPartyPod) June 12, 2026
Episode 1 – out now: https://t.co/astoQCWg03 pic.twitter.com/DhnLfqVzts
“Enzo’s agreed to be manager, who’s the spit of Pep. I’d say he’s very capable. Honestly it was like having a clone,” Vardy said on his Vardy Party podcast.
“He’s literally, exactly the same style of play. Like, he never used to sleep. He used to come in, we’d have a meeting in the morning and he’s like, ‘I didn’t go to bed until five o’clock this morning because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to show you this.’
“And we’re like, ‘what time did you get to training’, and he’s like ‘half-six’.”
Maresca lacks Guardiola’s track record
While Maresca has learnt from the very best, one thing Guardiola possesses which he does not is a history of winning the biggest competitions.
In fairness to the 46-year-old, he won the Championship with Leicester, and lifted a Conference League and Club World Cup trophy with Chelsea.
But even still, this is a manager who still only has a few years of experience leading a team from the sidelines. Therefore, taking charge of Man City is going to be a massive test.
Give Maresca a chance
Guardiola may have made the City job look easy, but even he needed a full season to get into the swing of things.
It was not until the Catalan’s second year that he got his first taste of silverware, and Maresca needs to be afforded a similar leniency.
Having said that, he is only due to be given a three-year contract, so making a quick start would be advantageous.
And the squad has been left in a fairly good state after a two-trophy season, which means Maresca should definitely be aiming to build on this success.
