After weeks of speculation, Enzo Maresca has finally left Leicester City to become manager of Chelsea.
Fans of the club can be understandably disappointed, with Leicester City offering Enzo Maresca only his second senior manager role and placing huge amounts of trust in him to take them back to the Premier League.
The Argentine did just that, winning the Championship with 97 points, but will not oversee the first season back in the top flight as the lure of Chelsea proved too strong.
Given the move has been one of the worst kept secrets in football recently, Leicester have had time to explore their options and draw up a shortlist.
Names such as Graham Potter, Steve Cooper and even Mauricio Sarri have all been linked but now it appears they have been given the green light by one of the leading candidates for the role.
Carlos Corberan in talks with Leicester City
According to Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieiri, West Brom manager Carlos Corberan is highly fancied by the Leicester hierarchy and the indications are that he would be open to the job.
Tavolieri posted on ‘X’: “Carlos Corberan’s highly placed into Leicester City shortlist to become the new head coach!
“Leaders of the foxes already met and spoke with WBA’s trainer. Burnley tried also an approach but Corberan’s keen to join LCFC.”
It is perhaps unsurprising that Leicester have a greater pull than Burnley given their relegation and the Foxes could give Corberan his first taste of the Premier League after twice losing in the Championship play-offs.
Corberan very different to Enzo Maresca
Corberan’s first play-off defeat came in the final against Nottingham Forest whilst manager of Huddersfield Town in 2021/22, with the second this season in the semi-finals against Southampton.
The Spanish coach is very different to Maresca in the sense that he approaches games in different ways depending on the opponents and meticulously studies each side to try to find weaknesses to exploit.
Despite winning the Championship, one of the criticisms of Maresca was that his side only had one way to play.
Very much from the Pep Guardiola school of thought, Maresca is very much a possession-focused manager, whilst Corberan could be seen as a more naturally defence-minded coach.
One benefit with uncertainty around finances is that Corberan is used to managing a shoestring budget, with West Brom not spending a single penny of transfer fees either in pre-season or January of their play-off campaign.
An overhaul of the playing style Maresca worked so hard to implement may well be needed and this could actually stand the club in better stead in the Premier League where they will be facing superior opposition.
Southampton manager Russell Martin spoke on Corberan ahead of the pair’s meeting in the play-offs, saying: “They’ve given us two really tough games. Carlos Corberan is a brilliant coach, they have experienced Premier League players and really experienced Championship players.
“They are physical, strong, powerful, and are well coached. They can do both sides of the game well, with and without the ball.”
If it is to be Corberan, the 41-year-old will have to show just how good a coach he is in order to ensure the Foxes remain in the top flight.
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