With his grounding in the sport coming from his native Italy and his many inspirations from the world of management during his playing career and beyond – including Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Marcello Lippi and Manuel Pellegrini – it’s no surprise the 44-year-old turned his attention to coaching after a playing career that spanned two decades.

It was a period that saw Maresca share dressing rooms and line up alongside icons such as Zinedine Zidane, Gianluigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved and Alessandro Del Piero, with the former midfielder playing an integral role from the middle of the park.

Donning the famous club colours of Juventus, Fiorentina and Sevilla – to name three – the playmaker helped orchestrate his respective side’s transition from defence to attack and won silverware along the way.

However, it would all begin amid the unlikely backdrop of the West Midlands. He made his professional debut at West Bromwich Albion – far-flung from his days in AC Milan’s academy – giving the Italian a rare insight into the English game at a young age.

The ruthless aggression of the English second-tier in the late 1990s gave Maresca a footballing education like no other, with his progression at the Hawthorns handing him the chance to move back to Italy with Juventus at the turn of the century. It was an opportunity he couldn’t refuse, describing it as a ‘dream move’.

Securing the Scudetto at Juventus would be his first taste of silverware, with the Italian personally crediting The Old Lady for bestowing him with a winning mentality.

In search of satisfying that feeling, he eventually followed that triumph with back-to-back UEFA Cups at Sevilla, scoring twice in seven minutes during the first final. He would also scoop the Copa del Rey, and even a memorable UEFA Super Cup victory over Barcelona in 2006 as part of the squad.

Spells at Olympiacos and Malaga would follow, securing Champions League qualification with the latter for the first time in the club’s history. Our new head coach also notched a vital goal for Palermo to save them from relegation, before hanging up his boots at Hellas Verona.

His plethora of experience within the game would always lend well to a career in management and, after brief coaching spells with Ascoli and Sevilla, the young coach would waste no time earning his managerial stripes under the guidance of his former Malaga boss Pellegrini at West Ham.

A year and a half as assistant manager in east London led to an opportunity with Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad where he would become the boss, nurturing many promising youngsters including current Chelsea players Cole Palmer and Romeo Lavia.

Maresca led the Sky Blues to their first-ever Premier League 2 trophy while implementing his style of play and football vision.

After a period as head coach at Parma back in Italy, Maresca returned to England, but this time under the tutelage of Guardiola as part of Manchester City’s backroom staff. As one of the Spaniard's assistant managers, Enzo helped oversee a historic treble as they secured the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and FA Cup.

His most recent managerial venture would be with the Foxes taking the reins of the former Premier League champions in the summer of 2023.

Catching the eye of many up and down the football pyramid, Enzo secured Leicester City’s return to the top-flight at the first time of asking, winning the Championship with 97 points and being named Manager of the Month on four separate occasions throughout the 23/24 campaign.