The four main reasons Chelsea have settled on Enzo Maresca to replace Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge

There is reward for hard work and talent and Enzo Maresca’s Championship-winning campaign has not gone unnoticed at Stamford Bridge. The Leicester City man is described by those close to him to be knowledgeable, passionate, and having a unique drive that formed the foundation of a successful playing career and a blossoming coaching trajectory so far.

Not many even in the chaotic corridors at Cobham gave him a strong chance when the search to replace Mauricio Pochettino began. Pochettino left his lucrative job after holding talks with Chelsea's sporting directors and owners. 

But Maresca did not have to say anything or do more, all he had to do was point to his decision-making, style of play and work that had Leicester dominate the opposition teams and force them into submission for large parts of the Championship season. 

Chelsea are confident that they will be able to pay a compensation fee that sources say is between £8-£10million and bring him to west London. So ahead of what should be now a straightforward negotiation between Chelsea and Leicester to seal the deal. Below are four reasons Chelsea have settled on one of Pep Guardiola’s trusted assistants. 

He just wants to be a coach

Contrary to a lot that has been reported in the last six days Chelsea did speak to other managers and most of them were not comfortable with the structure that was in place at Stamford Bridge. 

The structure is quite simple, the owners provide the money, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart identify the best talents using data and the coach has the task of building a system that brings the best out of the players provided. 

The problem is that not many managers will love to work in that structure but that is not a problem for ambitious Maresca who is determined to make a name for himself in the English game. LondonWorld has been told he’s happy to work in such an environment unlike some who were also briefed about the job.

Ideas and playing style

One of the points that counted against Pochettino heavily was that Chelsea was just not built to be a possession-based team. They had moments where they could win matches but the general feeling was that the structure did not get the best out of big-money signings like Enzo Fernandez and until the last few months Moises Caicedo. 

Maresca's use of far less talented players like Harry Winks, Wilfred Ndidi, Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu gave an insight into what he can do with the likes of Fernandez, Palmer and Caicedo. 

There is a feeling that he also knows this is a big opportunity for his career, unlike others who gave a feeling that they were risking their careers by taking the Chelsea job. 

The Pep Guardiola factor

Chelsea don't have to look too far, they know what Arsenal have turned into after they took a chance on one of Pep Guardiola’s assistants. In just three seasons, Mikel Arteta has transformed Arsenal from weak outsiders to proper title contenders. 

They will hope the ideas and foundations are the same and Chelsea will soon be the envy of most teams in Europe.

Just a simple man to work with

Maresca has also succeeded in giving the impression that he’s just a simple manager who is not out to cause friction and that is an unspoken and unwritten trait the owners have been looking out for.

They have invested heavily in this project and ideally, Graham Potter should have been in charge, a man who just wanted to be a football manager and didn't want to be involved in any of the politics that can be a daily occurrence at a club like Chelsea. 

His dismissal forced a tweak in the kind of manager they wanted to lead the project, but the imminent appointment of Maresca is something they’ve always been on the lookout for.