Chelsea appear to be close to naming their new manager, with Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca seemingly the leading candidate for the job.

It is a position that has been available since last Tuesday after Mauricio Pochettino left Chelsea by mutual consent.

Multiple managers, including Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Roberto De Zerbi, have been linked to Stamford Bridge.

However, Maresca now looks to have won the race to become Chelsea’s next manager.

He seems to have really impressed Chelsea during discussions with the club.

Why Chelsea are now set to appoint Enzo Maresca as their new manager

It is being reported that Maresca is Chelsea’s No.1 target to replace Pochettino following the Argentine’s exit.

The 44-year-old has never managed in the Premier League before, but he seems to have convinced the Chelsea hierarchy.

According to Sky Sports journalist Kaveh Solhekol, Chelsea were left impressed by Maresca’s knowledge of their squad and his obsession with possession and positional play after discussions with his representatives.

On X, he wrote: “Chelsea closing in on making Enzo Maresca their new head coach. Chelsea have been impressed by depth and breadth of his knowledge about their squad in talks with his representatives.

“Also impressed by his single-minded focus on the way Chelsea want to play and his desire for the job. His obsession with possession and positional play have made him the leading candidate.”

Enzo Maresca a gamble

It is a risk what Chelsea are doing, one they never needed to take.

In Pochettino, they had a Premier League-proven manager who had just got the team playing well and guided them to sixth place.

Under him, the Blues won all of their final five top-flight fixtures. It made so much sense to carry on with the 52-year-old.

However, they were clearly happy for Pochettino to depart after allowing him to leave by mutual consent. The club are now turning to someone who has nowhere near as much experience as their former boss, and you can easily see this backfiring.