CONFIRMED: Man Utd wanted Enzo Maresca

Robin Bairner

• 20 Nov 2024 08:40 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United’s campaign would look very different if Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was in charge at Old Trafford, and while that may sound like a ridiculous situation, it was actually very close to happening just a matter of weeks ago.

Maresca became one of the Premier League’s most-wanted managers after leading Leicester City to promotion from the Championship last season and was quickly snaffled up by Chelsea.

United, though, had made a move for him to replace Erik ten Hag.

Enzo Maresca: How close was he to joining Man Utd?

The Red Devils spent a fortnight conducting an intensive season review that was expected to see the Dutchman lose his job. However, the weight of the club’s FA Cup triumph over Manchester City seemed to be sufficient to surprisingly tilt the balance in Ten Hag’s favour.

United were considering the prospect of other managers at that point, with the likes of Thomas Tuchel coming close to landing the post.

Although Ten Hag retained his job, it has transpired that Man Utd’s interest in Maresca was real.

Speaking to the podcast Debrief, Guillem Balague said: “The profile that Chelsea were looking for also fitted with Enzo, because they were looking for a young manager with the right ideas that will work with the structure of the club.

“And will work with young people, and will not be kind of doing politics to try to get more players or the kind of things that sometimes breaks relationships.

“So…they had all of that in Enzo. And if there was proof that his profile was sought after, that just before he shook hands with Chelsea, Manchester United called. And it was too late.”

Ten Hag out, Amorim in

Ten Hag was given a brief stay of reprieve, but a poor start to this campaign, which saw Man Utd languish embarrassingly in the lower half of the Premier League table, ultimately saw him sacked.

Ruben Amorim has since taken over, with the new Man Utd manager set to take charge for the first time in Sunday's clash at Portman Road against Ipswich Town.