Enzo Maresca is officially the new coach of Manchester City, and Chelsea seems to have been… waiting for the announcement to launch a counterattack.

The “Blues” wanted to clarify to their fans what happened last winter that led to their “parting of ways” with the Italian coach at the start of 2026.

In fact, the London club’s official statement doesn’t mention the name of the “Citizens’” current coach even once!

In detail:

“We feel it is necessary to explain everything that happened last January. In the fall of 2025, our former coach informed us of the possibility that he might take Guardiola’s position at City.

It was clear to us that he was very keen to take advantage of this opportunity, despite the fact that he had a long-term contract with our club.

In December 2025, he submitted his resignation, and we were disappointed by his decision, as we believed he was committed to our project, having only begun our collaboration the previous year.

No team wants to change coaches in the middle of the season. However, given his easy decision not to continue with us, we simply chose to protect our players, the club, the fans, and our crest. We accepted his resignation.

Then, based on our mutual respect with City, we agreed on a sum to be paid to us as compensation by the club, but a strictly confidential agreement was also reached with the coach for him to pay a sum as well. Now we have Xabi Alonso, an incredibly intelligent coach with the highest level of integrity.”

*photo source: AP