From San Siro ballboy to Etihad successor: Enzo Maresca’s rise

At eleven years old, Enzo Maresca stood on the San Siro pitch as a ballboy in 1991, watching Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi patrol the Rossoneri defence while Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten carved up opponents in midfield. The Milan side of that era remains one of the greatest in history, collecting four Serie A titles, a UEFA Champions League crown, three UEFA Super Cups, one Intercontinental Cup and three Supercoppa Italiana trophies under Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello. Maresca has often reflected on those formative years, recalling the Dutch trio of Gullit, van Basten and Frank Rijkaard as the backbone of a team that dominated Italy and Europe. “With Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard – the three Dutch players – AC Milan was a fantastic team. Probably (in) Italy, in terms of clubs, (they) were the best (in the) country at that moment,” Maresca said two years ago. Those early impressions shaped his own playing philosophy. After progressing through Milan’s youth system, Maresca watched Capello’s side defeat Barcelona in the 1994 European Cup Final, a night orchestrated by Johan Cruyff. The experience left a lasting imprint on the young Italian, who would later channel it into a career that spanned four European leagues. Manchester City’s announcement last week confirmed the 46-year-old as Pep Guardiola’s successor, placing him at the helm of a club preparing for a new era. Guardiola’s decade at the Etihad Stadium redefined the English game, but Maresca’s ties to City run deep through his time leading the Academy and Elite Development Squad.

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His playing odyssey took him from Greece to Spain, Italy and England, with each stop contributing to a tactical toolkit that has now earned him one of football’s most coveted roles. After seven years in Milan and Cagliari academies, Maresca turned professional at West Bromwich Albion in the second division, where he shared lifts to training with a teenage Graham Potter. “We played together, we lived very close, so sometimes we travelled together in the car to the training ground,” Maresca told Manchester City’s media team. “I still receive cards from West Brom fans. That was, for me, a big thing. But I think in these terms, English fans in general, they recognise a lot even through the years.” His two years at the Hawthorns yielded limited on-field success, yet the personal growth proved invaluable. Maresca developed into a technical midfielder famed for vision, passing and chance creation, a profile that soon attracted Juventus. A club-record £4.3 million sale to Chelsea followed his Juventus stint, though his time in Turin was punctuated by controversy. In a Derby della Mole clash, Maresca rose to meet a cross, headed home from 18 yards, and celebrated by mimicking a bull’s horns directly at Torino forward Marco Ferrante, who had performed the same celebration moments earlier. The moment amplified his media presence and briefly raised the blood pressure of the home supporters. Despite setbacks, including a dramatic 2000-01 season when Juventus lost the title on goal difference, Maresca’s career endured. Marcello Lippi’s leadership stood out in his experience, with the midfielder later crediting the coach’s motivational approach. “In terms of motivation and leadership, Marcello Lippi, in my experience, was number one. Only listening, talking, the motivation was top. And in terms of leadership as well,” Maresca said in 2021. A move to Sevilla in 2005 brought him to La Liga, where he made 29 appearances and scored eight goals in his debut season, rounding out an itinerant yet influential career that now leads to Manchester City’s dugout.