Chelsea have announced a raft of backroom appointments to follow the arrival of Enzo Maresca as their new manager.
Monday brought official confirmation that the 44-year-old Italian would be leaving Championship title-winners Leicester in order to take up the vacant head coaching post at Stamford Bridge from July 1.
Maresca has signed an initial five-year contract at Stamford Bridge that includes the option for Chelsea to extend by a further year, replacing Mauricio Pochettino who departed west London in surprise fashion two weeks ago despite having engineered an impressive late turnaround in his eventful one and only season at the helm.
Confirmation of Maresca’s appointment by Chelsea also brought news of his backroom staff, including a return to Stamford Bridge for ex-Blues goalkeeper Willy Caballero, who joins as Maresca’s assistant having also performed that same role at Leicester.
Caballero previously spent four years at Chelsea as a player between 2017-21 after three seasons with Manchester City, appearing 38 times in total across all competitions as an experienced deputy to the likes of Thibaut Courtois and Kepa Arrizabalaga.The Argentine started the 2019/20 FA Cup final defeat by Arsenal at Wembley and was the goalkeeper that Maurizio Sarri tried to send on in anticipation of a penalty shootout in the 2018/19 Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City, only for Kepa to infamously refuse to come off.
He left Chelsea in the summer of 2021 after becoming third choice behind Edouard Mendy and Kepa under Frank Lampard, having been part of successful squads that won the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup. He later played for Southampton before heading to Leicester last summer as the newly-appointed Maresca’s assistant.
Also following Maresca from newly-promoted Leicester to Chelsea are first-team coach Danny Walker, goalkeeping coach Michele De Bernardin, fitness coach Marcos Alvarez, analyst Javi Molina and development coach Roberto Vitiello.
Chelsea have also announced the arrival of tactical statistician Bernardo Cueva from Brentford to lead their newly-created set-piece department, while Ben Roberts has been appointed to the job of head of global goalkeeping.
“To join Chelsea, one of the biggest clubs in the world, is a dream for any coach. It is why I am so excited by this opportunity,” Maresca said.
“I look forward to working with a very talented group of players and staff to develop a team that continues the club’s tradition of success and makes our fans proud.”
