Maresca officially joins City, but there's a catch - and it's worth almost €20,000,000

Manchester City's appointment of Enzo Maresca has come at a double cost.

The Premier League runners-up will pay Chelsea a compensation package worth almost €20 million. Still, remarkably, the Italian himself will also have to compensate his former club after admitting he had opened negotiations with City while still in charge at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea confirmed on Monday that they had reached separate confidential settlement agreements with both Manchester City and Maresca, bringing an end to a saga that had dragged on since the Italian's surprise resignation midway through last season.

The 46-year-old has signed a three-year contract at the Etihad, replacing Pep Guardiola after the Spaniard ended his historic decade-long reign. However, his arrival was delayed by lengthy negotiations between the two clubs over compensation, with City ultimately agreeing to pay Chelsea the aforementioned sum.

That, though, was only part of the settlement.

In a strongly worded statement, Chelsea also revealed that they had reached a separate agreement with Maresca himself, under which the former head coach will personally pay compensation to the club.

The Blues insisted the Italian had informed them on multiple occasions during the autumn of last year that he was in contact with people associated with Manchester City regarding the possibility of succeeding Guardiola. According to Chelsea, those discussions began while he remained under contract at Stamford Bridge.

"In December 2025, our head coach unexpectedly and abruptly resigned from his position," Chelsea said. "Obviously, we felt let down as we believed that his head and heart were focused on another club and another opportunity."

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The London club added that confidential settlements had now been agreed with both Manchester City and Maresca. The Italian has since acknowledged that resigning from Chelsea paved the way for his move to the Etihad.

"At the end of December 2025, I made the difficult decision to leave Chelsea," Maresca wrote on Instagram.

"The decision was only mine. My resignation from Chelsea opened a path for me to join Manchester City, which is a club I knew very well.

"I recognise that my departure from Chelsea in the middle of the season caused disruption for the club and I apologise for that. It was neither my intention nor my wish."

Maresca, who previously served as Guardiola's assistant during City's Treble-winning campaign in 2022-23, had been out of work since leaving Chelsea on New Year's Day. Even before his appointment became official, he had already begun working alongside sporting director Hugo Viana on transfer plans and preparations for the new season.