A crackling chuckle can be heard echoing under Enzo Maresca’s breath. “You want to know if we are going to play in the same way, yeah?” he asks, launching into a broad grin before the question is even finished.
The question is, of course, whether his Leicester City side will attempt to mirror Manchester City’s methods in the second tier as they target an immediate Premier League return, given Maresca accepted the Leicester manager job within days of winning the treble alongside Pep Guardiola. “It is that idea. But it is not [about it happening] tomorrow, it is a process. The idea is to try to play in one way, the way we want, but it will require time. Hopefully we can achieve it as soon as possible.”
Talking of style, few coaches could pull off wearing a cream and baby pink club tracksuit top like Maresca, an Italian with immaculately-landscaped stubble. He acknowledges it is a long time since he wheeled away in celebration after scoring for West Bromwich Albion as a teenager, showing off a Superman T-shirt under his top. “First of all, I had long hair … I was 18, a kid, it was 25 years ago,” he says, smiling.
The 43-year-old former Juventus and Sevilla midfielder met the Leicester squad and staff on Monday, whereby the morning consisted of gym work, conditioning and pre-season testing – including a bleep test in the indoor dome – and the afternoon a first outdoor session on the grass.
There were a couple of new faces at Seagrave, Leicester’s swanky training ground, in eye-catching signings Conor Coady and Harry Winks, but others who reported back are set to depart before the club kick off the new season at home against Coventry next month.
Harvey Barnes, a priority target for West Ham, will likely join James Maddison in departing for a upwardly mobile Premier League side, while Kelechi Iheanacho, Timothy Castagne, Patson Daka and Ricardo Pereira are among those who could also head for the exit. Youri Tielemans, one of seven players out of contract this summer, left for Aston Villa. As for further incomings, Maresca could lean on Guardiola if they enter the loan market; Leicester are among those interested in Callum Doyle, the Manchester City centre-back who spent last season on loan at Coventry.
It is all part of the big rebuild and reset that had been on the cards regardless of which division Leicester lined up in this season. The squad will evolve in the coming weeks but Maresca insists Jamie Vardy, the 36-year-old striker who recently rejected interest from Saudi Arabia, is in his plans.
“I’ve spoken with him a few times already and he was quite relaxed. There were no words about leaving, so I don’t think so. He is a main player – he will probably be an example for all of his teammates. We are very happy to have him here. It is a pleasure for me to have him.”
Maresca recognises Leicester will have a target on their backs in the Championship as one of the favourites for automatic promotion and has already reiterated to his players the importance of approaching the season in the right mindset. “The most important thing is to adapt to the competition,” he says.
“Every team will want to come to our stadium and take points as probably for them we are the most important team in the Championship. I experienced this at City. Every team were trying desperately to get points from us as the best team in the Premier League. The same will happen with us and we have to be ready. If we don’t adapt, it could be a bad thing.”
Maresca carefully avoided the temptation to make grand statements at his first press conference but did not hide when asked whether winning the Championship crown next year would top cradling the Champions League with Manchester City.
after newsletter promotion
“You know better than me how difficult that is in England – something I believe only United have achieved before [in 1999]. So it is something that cost a lot. When you reach an important target it’s always a different feeling. So last year I was very happy with that but I will be even more happy if we achieve our target this year.”
Guardiola gave Maresca, who returned to the Etihad Stadium last summer after being sacked by Parma after 14 matches, his blessing to take the job. “It was difficult because I left a club that since I joined I felt part of them, part of the family. But because Pep knows my ideas since the first day that he called me to join his staff, he was ready for that.
“In the moments that I had conversations with him, he always said: ‘Enzo, I know your thoughts about that, feel free because I know you feel inside you are a manager, you want to be a manager. So feel free and don’t worry.’”
Guardiola has unmistakably been a major influence but Maresca, who worked under Marcello Lippi and Carlo Ancelotti as a player and alongside Manuel Pellegrini as a first-team coach at West Ham, is also determined to improve on the job. “The most important thing that I could see last year was that Pep was trying to learn every day,” he says.
“This is probably something that makes him different from the rest. I always try to be like a sponge and grow every day. The reason I was where I was [at City] is because my idea goes in that way, that is true – to try always to have the most beautiful thing for the players, which is the ball. That is our target here.”
