Enzo Maresca is now being lined up for one of the biggest jobs in world football as Manchester City prepare for life after Pep Guardiola. But Celtic once had the chance to appoint him too.
Reports have revealed that Guardiola will leave Man City after 10 years at the helm, and will be replaced by Maresca, who once worked alongside him as a first-team coach.
The Italian has been perfecting his own trade elsewhere, working at Leicester City and Chelsea, but there was once a chance for him to be in the Parkhead dugout.
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Enzo Maresca was once linked with the Celtic job before Leicester move
Back in 2023, Celtic were reported to have held talks with Maresca after Ange Postecoglou left the club for Tottenham Hotspur.
At that stage, Maresca was coming off his spell as part of Guardiola’s backroom team at Man City and was viewed as one of the more intriguing young coaching options on the market.
However, Celtic ultimately moved in a different direction as Brendan Rodgers returned to the club for a second spell.
Maresca, meanwhile, agreed terms with Leicester and took on the task of leading the Foxes back to the Premier League after relegation.
That decision proved to be a major turning point in his career.
He guided Leicester to the Championship title in 2023-24, winning promotion at the first time of asking and quickly strengthening his reputation as a possession-focused coach from the Guardiola school.
Celtic have their own manager hunt to focus on
As Martin O’Neill prepares to wave goodbye to Celtic for the second time in his career, all attention turns to who will replace him.
Guardiola will be out of a job but it would be unthinkable to suggest that he would come north of the border to join the Hoops.
Robbie Keane and Jens Berthel Askou are still the two favourites but the Bhoys will ideally have a new manager before the start of the World Cup.
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