Enzo Maresca Goes on the Offensive With Stunning Defense of Man City

Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca was a picture of composure and confidence while speaking to the media for the first time since the club had been formally found guilty in their seismic case with the Premier League.

For the Italian coach, this was simply a non-topic. As he repeated on several occasions throughout an eerily serene press conference, it was not a question of “if” City would win their appeal, but a matter of “when.”

After more than two years of deliberation, an independent commission found City guilty of “artificially inflating the club’s revenues, and reducing its costs, by more than £900 million [$1.2 billion]” during the nine seasons between 2009–10 and 2017–18. The array of punishments is extreme and could be as severe as expulsion from the Premier League or even an enforced sale of the club.

The hierarchy at City responded forcefully to this verdict—or “opinion” as they have repeatedly (and inaccurately) called it. Total innocence has been claimed thanks to “a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence.” This mysterious and regularly alluded-to smoking gun will be unveiled during an appeal process which must be concluded by Jan. 23, 2027 at the latest.

Maresca was reluctant to dwell too much on the case until that point, although he was already confident about what the finding would be. “I just said, I would like to speak about this situation when we win the appeal,” he insisted.

Why Maresca Is So Confident About Man City Appeal

Enzo Maresca flashing a thumbs up. — It’s all thumbs up for Enzo Maresca. | Martin Rickett/PA Images/Getty Images

Maresca was Pep Guardiola’s first-team assistant when City were first charged in February 2023 and had previously worked in the club’s youth department. It’s safe to say that he has fully bought into everything that has been fed to him by the powers that be.

“I know the organization from years ago, I know how serious they are, I know they do the right things,” Maresca explained. “I would like to speak about this when we win the appeal.”

It was put to Guardiola’s replacement whether he would have taken on the top job over the summer had the independent commission’s guilty verdict been published at the time. “100%” was his swift response.

“The reason I joined this club is that I completely trust, 100%, the owner, the CEO, the sporting director, all the organization. So I don’t have doubt about that.”

Even when faced with the consequence of relegation, Maresca shot back: “I won the Championship with Leicester, so in case we’re in League One, we’ll see. But we are thinking about something we don’t know.”

Maresca’s ‘Trust’ Is an Act of Blind Faith

Enzo Maresca smiling. — Enzo Maresca has been all smiles lately. | Tom Flathers/Manchester City FC/Getty Images

“Trust” was a sentiment which Maresca returned to. But it’s more like an act of blind faith. Maresca admitted that he has not read the commission’s detailed report into “how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade,” to use the words of the competition’s chief executive Richard Masters.

“I promise you that my focus is just about football,” the manager admitted. “I’m not thinking about different things. I don’t understand many things, I just focus on the things I control which is the football side.”

That would make his stance a lot easier to explain.

If you haven’t read about how a three-person panel of the most revered legal experts in the land combed through millions of documents to decide that your club concocted “sham contracts,” “sham agreements” and “sham commercial deals,” instead, solely listening to your employers who vehemently describe this as a “Premier League conspiracy,” you are going to be confident that an appeal will be successful.

In that scenario, it would be more confusing to ignore the opinion of your bosses without coming into contact with any contradictory evidence.

Maresca’s Two-Word Stance on Man City’s ‘Tainted’ Titles

Manchester City players celebrating. — Manchester City won three league titles during the period under investigation. | Oli SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

When faced with the pointed question of whether the titles City had won during the offending period were “tainted,” Maresca retorted: “Absolutely not.”

“The last time I was here was the treble season [2022–23],” Guardiola’s former assistant began. “I know the effort from the players, the club, the manager, I know the effort the club put to achieve that target.”

City won three Premier League titles during the nine seasons in which they were found to have misreported the size of sponsorship agreements and there have been five league triumphs over the subsequent eight years thanks to players bought with these contentious funds. There are reportedly mixed opinions on how to reassess City’s achievements, with some arguing that the titles should be stripped but not reawarded.

The people in positions of power at City are just as confident as their mouthpiece, Maresca. Even if their appeal is not successful, there are numerous other avenues which can (and almost certainly will) be explored to drag this out for several more years. At least one part of Maresca’s bold declaration of confidence was correct, this is “an ongoing process.”

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