Man City stance on Celtic-linked coach outlined ahead of Champions League final

Manchester City assistant coach Enzo Maresca is being heavily linked with a switch to Celtic this summer. The Hoops are in the hunt for a new boss to replace Ange Postecoglou following his departure to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur earlier this week.

ManchesterWorld understands City will not stand in the way of Maresca if they were to receive an approach from Celtic Park in the near future. The Italian is a key member of Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff.

Celtic could see the 43-year-old as the man to take them forward ahead of next season as they look to make it three Scottish Premiership titles in a row ahead of their rivals Rangers.

Other names such as Brendan Rodgers, West Ham’s David Moyes and former Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch have been mentioned as potential suitors as well. Maresca, who is from Salerno, spent two years of his playing days in England with West Brom.

The ex-midfielder also had spells across Europe with the likes of Juventus, Fiorentina, Sevilla, Olympiacos, Malaga and Palermo before hanging up his boots in 2017. He then delved into the coaching world and initially started out at Ascoli in Serie B. The former Italy youth international was then brought in by City in August 2020 as head coach of their Elite Development side and later won the Premier League 2 division title.

That alerted the attention of Palma and he returned to Italy as manager of them in the second tier. However, his time there was short lived and he returned to the Etihad Stadium in June last year as number two to Guardiola for the first-team and has held that position since as they chase down the treble.