CHELSEA have requested official permission to speak to Enzo Maresca.
The Italian, 44, has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Mauricio Pochettino after guiding Leicester City to promotion.
Now the Blues have asked the Championship title winners to speak to their boss about becoming their new manager.
Sun Sport understands that Maresca is close to leaving Leicester with talks between him and Chelsea at an advanced stage.
Todd Boehly and Clearlake will have to pay £10m compensation to get their man.
But that fee has not put them off as Maresca is their preferred candidate ahead of Roberto De Zerbi and Brentford’s Thomas Frank.
Kieran McKenna was also a contender but the man who has just led Ipswich Town to back-to-back promotions has withdrawn from the race.
Maresca, who has a £10million release clause in his deal, moved to the King Power from Manchester City‘s coaching staff last summer.
And he guided the club straight back to the Premier League at the first attempt as title winners.
Maresca has previously had a short stint as manager of Parma as well as working as a coach at West Ham.
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Pochettino left the club on Tuesday by mutual consent following an end-of-season review with the owners and sporting directors.
We revealed previously how Chelsea’s owners are keen to have a new manager in place by the end of this week.
Now it is Maresca that looks set to become the third permanent managerial appointment for the club’s American owners.
He actually played in England for West Brom during his playing days, which also included winning the Uefa Cup with Sevilla.
His management career started at Italian minnows Ascoli before he moved to Man City in 2020 to take charge of their Elite Development Squad.
He left briefly to return home and take over as Parma manager but he was sacked after just a few months after failing to impress.
That led to a return to Man City as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants for the 2022/23 season which ended in treble glory before he moved to Leicester.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s squad shared their shock when Pochettino’s departure was announced last week.
The Argentine, who was only in charge for one season, survived an awful start to eventually guide the club to a sixth placed finish in the Premier League.
They also reached the Carabao Cup final, where they lost to Liverpool, and the FA Cup semi-final.
He had also secured them a return to European football next term courtesy of the Uefa Conference League.
Enzo Maresca is considered among the most exciting young coaches on the planet.
Born in Italy in 1980, he managed to guide Leicester to the Championship title in his first season as Foxes boss.
His management career started at Italian minnows Ascoli before he was snapped up by Man City in 2020 to manage their Elite Development Squad.
He guided the youth team to the Premier League 2 title in his one season working for the Citizens – with Cole Palmer in the side.
His first senior job was with Parma but he was sacked after just a few months after failing to impress.
Despite the team playing in Serie B and Maresca having an impressive squad he was unable to get them on course for promotion.
He returned to Man City and worked as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants for the 2022/23 season as they won the Treble.
He took over relegated Leicester last summer and made an immediate impact, with the Foxes winning the Championship title.
Maresca showed his dedication to the job by living at the training ground for the first two months after his appointment.
He’s considered something of a Pep disciple and has said: “For a coach, it’s important to have the mentality of a chess player.”
During his playing career he played under Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi – and alongside ex-Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi.
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