Why Enzo Maresca has made Premier League history as Chelsea announce departure
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Enzo Maresca has made a peculiar Premier League record with his eyebrow-raising departure from Chelsea amid the team's mid-winter slump.
Mid-season managerial changes are not exactly new for Chelsea, who have had five figures in charge of the team since the BlueCo takeover in May 2022.
However, despite Chelsea's notoriously high head coach turnover rate, the timing of Maresca's departure remains quite surprising.
According to Opta, the Italian has become the first manager in Premier League history to leave his club on New Year's Day.
In addition to this, there remain questions about who will be in charge of the Chelsea side for the big away match against Manchester City on Sunday.
Willy Caballero, who led the team twice this season during Maresca's two touchline bans, seems to be the most likely option, if Chelsea have not appointed a new head coach or an interim in the next few days should he remain at the club.
Chelsea currently sit fifth in the Premier League table, still in a good position to secure a Champions League qualification spot, but there are several teams closely following behind, including Manchester United and Sunderland.
It is safe to say that whoever succeeds Maresca will have to hit the ground running to meet the club's objectives of qualifying for the Champions League through the Premier League.
Nine games in the first month of 2026! 🔵💪 pic.twitter.com/puHPNUIHhP
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 1, 2026
On a more positive note, the two fixtures after the trip to Manchester City will be more forgiving: a visit to neighbours Fulham and the third-round tie against Championship side Charlton in the FA Cup.
Chelsea will then face another big challenge in the first leg of the semifinals in the Carabao Cup against in-form Arsenal on January 14.
In addition to these, Chelsea have two Champions League fixtures in January, against Pafos and Napoli.
They would likely need to win both to secure a top-eight spot in the league phase of the competition for an automatic qualification to the knock-out phase.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.