Sampdoria are in talks with Manchester City U23 coach Enzo Maresca with one of Celtic’s top managerial targets in line for a Serie A job instead, as reported by Tuttomercatoweb.
With Eddie Howe closer than ever to completing his protracted move to Glasgow following weeks of speculation, missing out on Maresca isn’t the setback it may have appeared in March when Neil Lennon was put out of his misery.
At the time, The Sunday Post reported Celtic had held talks with the 41-year-old’s agent.
Maresca was understood to be open to offers from the Glasgow giants too, having made a name for himself as a talented, ambitious, forward-thinking coach during spells at Sevilla, West Ham United and Manchester City.
His Man City side stormed to the Premier League 2 title this season too, with their tally of 79 goals in 24 games highlighting Maresca’s penchant for vibrant, fast-paced attacking football.
“I am delighted with the work done by Enzo Maresca in the Elite Development Squad,” Pep Guardiola told Tuttomercatoweb 48 hours before City’s senior squad lifted a trophy of their own in front of 10,000 supporters at the Etihad.
“I have the feeling in the future he will be an extraordinary manager, like Mikel Arteta.”
As Arsenal fans will tell you, making the step up to top-level management is far from easy. Arteta has found that out the hard way since taking on an underachieving club floundering in the midst of a leadership vacuum.
Similarities can certainly be drawn between Arsenal and an equally directionless Celtic.
So it’s tempting to wonder whether Maresca will get a lucky escape as he enters talks over a move that would see him replace the legendary Claudio Ranieri at Sampdoria instead.
Celtic may be a job too big, too complex, too challenging for a man used to the sterilised world of academy football.
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