What Behdad Eghbali did before Chelsea’s appointment of Enzo Maresca as manager

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Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali unsurprisingly played a major role in the appointment of Enzo Maresca.

Chelsea confirmed Enzo Maresca as their new manager on Monday, with the Italian joining the club from Leicester City on a five-year contract.

He was only at Leicester for one season but managed to guide them to promotion following their relegation from the Premier League last term.

That clearly impressed Eghbali and the other decision-makers at Chelsea, who have turned to Maresca after agreeing to part ways with Mauricio Pochettino last month.

Like Maresca, Pochettino was only at his now former club for a single season.

The amount of effort Behdad Eghbali put into bringing Enzo Maresca to Chelsea

It looks like Eghbali was really keen for Maresca to come in and replace Pochettino in the Stamford Bridge dugout.

According to football.london, the Chelsea co-owner worked “tirelessly” and “relentlessly” to get the initial groundwork done ahead of Maresca’s arrival.

Co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley then flew to Marbella to finalise things with the 44-year-old.

Eghbali, then, has got his man and will be hoping he can do better than Pochettino and Graham Potter.

Both managers, of course, failed to qualify for the Champions League during their brief spells in west London.

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Why was Behdad Eghbali so desperate to bring Enzo Maresca in?

Looking at Maresca’s career so far, with the new Chelsea boss having worked alongside Pep Guardiola, he may be able to bring an exciting and possession-based style of football to Stamford Bridge.

In a statement on Chelsea’s official website following Maresca’s appointment, Stewart and Winstanley said: “We are delighted to welcome Enzo to Chelsea. He has proven himself to be an excellent coach capable of delivering impressive results with an exciting and identifiable style.”

In the Championship this season, only Southampton saw more of the ball on average than Leicester under the former Parma manager, according to WhoScored.

The above is one thing that certainly would have appealed to Eghbali and Co.