Enzo Maresca appointed Man City manager to succeed Pep Guardiola
Former Blues manager inks a three-year deal at Manchester City and succeeds Pep Guardiola, who stepped down in May. By Reuters Published On 29 Jun 202629 Jun 2026 Manchester City have appointed Enzo Maresca as manager to replace departing coach Pep Guardiola next season, the Premier League club announced on Monday. The Italian joins City following a mid-season exit from Chelsea, with the London club saying they had reached an agreement with the Manchester club over a compensation package. British media reported the fee to be about £17 million ($22.5 million). Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Maresca, who has signed a three-year contract, brings familiarity with City’s set-up, having previously coached the club’s youth team. He was also the senior side’s assistant coach under Guardiola during City’s 2018-19 treble-winning season. “Manchester City is a club I know very well and to have the chance to manage this team is a brilliant opportunity for me,” Maresca said in a statement. “The quality of the people who work here is what makes it so special and I want to thank them for showing faith in my ability. “I cannot wait to start coaching the players. I want us to win, play good football and enjoy the pressure of representing Manchester City.” Managerial journey The 46-year-old Italian’s managerial journey began at Parma in 2021, where he lasted 14 games, winning only four times. He was appointed Leicester City boss at the start of the 2023-24 Championship season and guided them back to the Premier League as champions. His success in the East Midlands earned him a move to Chelsea, where he was charged with steering a young but expensively assembled squad back to the Champions League. Maresca led Chelsea to victory in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup during his 18-month spell at Stamford Bridge [Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters] Abrupt departure at Chelsea Maresca guided Chelsea to a fourth-place finish and lifted both the Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup, but his relationship with the club’s owners deteriorated and he left midway through his second season at Stamford Bridge. Advertisement Chelsea said in a statement on Monday that Maresca had expressed a desire to leave in the middle of his contract after being informed of the opportunity to succeed Guardiola at Manchester City. “It became clear to us that it was his strong desire to succeed Guardiola and that he was fully committed to pursuing the opportunity, despite the fact he was under a long-term contract which he had no right to terminate,” Chelsea said in a statement. “In December 2025, our Head Coach unexpectedly and abruptly resigned from his position. Obviously, we felt let down as we believed that his head and heart were focused on another club and another opportunity, despite having just arrived at Chelsea the year before.” City also confirmed they held confidential talks with Maresca last year, while he was still at Chelsea. The Italian acknowledged his departure disrupted Chelsea’s season, with the club eventually finishing ninth after parting ways with his successor Liam Rosenior and turning to caretaker Calum McFarlane. “I recognise that my departure from Chelsea in the middle of the season caused disruption for the club and I apologise for that. It was neither my intention nor my wish,” Maresca said in a statement on the Manchester City website. “I was treated well by everyone at Chelsea and together we achieved great success and memories that I will always treasure.” Chelsea have since appointed Xabi Alonso as manager. Pep Guardiola was Man City boss for 10 years and became the most successful manager in the club’s history [File: Lee Smith/Reuters] Replacing Guardiola Maresca now faces the daunting task of replacing 55-year-old Guardiola, whose decade-long spell transformed City into English football’s dominant force. “City is an incredibly well-run football club. Everything they do is innovative, planned and purposeful,” Maresca said. “For a manager, that is a dream situation. It provides the consistency I need to do my job effectively.” Guardiola, who announced his departure in May, led City to a dazzling array of silverware, including six Premier League titles and one Champions League crown. The Spaniard won the League Cup and FA Cup in his final season to cap a remarkable tenure at the club, but missed out on leading his side to another dramatic Premier League title victory. Adblock test (Why?)
Five killed in shooting at German youth centre
NewsFeed Five people were killed in a shooting at a youth welfare centre in Stade, northern Germany. Police arrested two people, including the suspected gunman, and said there is no ongoing threat to the public as investigators work to establish the motive and full circumstances of the attack. Published On 29 Jun 202629 Jun 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
JD Vance’s 2028 strategy is starting to take shape
In a recent interview with the New York Times, Vice President JD Vance denied that there was an “intense rivalry” between him and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. And yet, reports and speculations about tensions between them continue to emerge, with the Rubio camp allegedly spreading rumours that Vance was thinking about pulling out of the presidential campaign before it even starts In response, perhaps, during the past two weeks, the vice president has stepped out of his routine public persona that usually avoids controversy to make bold statements critical of Israel. Rubio, on the other hand, has continued to hold the party line of unconditional support for Israel. While Vance has led efforts to negotiate a peace deal with Iran, which have rattled Israel, Rubio has spearheaded efforts to pressure the Lebanese government into an agreement on Israel’s terms. By becoming the face of Republican scepticism of Israel and clashing with his likely presidential election rival Rubio, Vance appears to be charting his own way to the presidency – one that distances the vice president from what increasingly seem to be unpopular foreign policy positions. Rubio, until recently, had been on the upswing, assigned ever-more important responsibilities by Trump. He has been a leading voice within the administration for a hawkish approach that has encompassed military action from Venezuela to Iran, outweighing the counsel of the more isolationist Vance. When it comes to Israel, Rubio has made a point of being as public and proactive as possible in his support for that country and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, supporting his appeal for the US to enter the war with Iran, and even going so far as to put his name on determinations leveraging claims of national security threats to deport foreign students critical of Israel. Advertisement While the bulk of his public statements have been directed at the Netanyahu government, it is hard not to read some of Vance’s recent comments as being directly responsive to Rubio’s actions not only abroad, but at home as well. As Vance put it, “…pro-Israel people in the United States make two critical mistakes. One, on the one hand, is not delineating between America’s interest and Israeli interests because they’re not the same. But the second is always conflating criticism of a particular government with Jew hatred, because if everything is Jew hatred, then nothing is Jew hatred.” But, if Vance is creating space between himself and Rubio (including, apparently, by eschewing the increasingly weaponised terminology of “antisemitism”), it must also be the case that there is a political case for his doing so. That case has yet to be tested on the Republican side, where the political elites well beyond Rubio continue to move in lockstep with Israel’s Netanyahu. But Vance, as ever, is reading the base. The same polls that show an absolute collapse of Democratic grassroots support for Israel also show an unmistakable weakening of that support in the Republican base, with one recent survey finding that 57 percent of Republicans under 50 now hold negative views of Israel. Despite the inability of Republican elected officials to rally support behind their criticism of Israel (neither of the two most visible examples, Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie will re-enter Congress next year), the demand signal for more frank conversation has propelled right-wing commenters like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens to ever-greater prominence. Looking into the social media landscape, Republican questioning of the Israel relationship – particularly under the banner question of whether it represents “America First” or “Israel First,” is inescapable. Which is not to say it will be an easy path. As sitting vice president, Vance must defer to Trump; while the latter is currently frustrated with Netanyahu, there are no guarantees that the relationship will not warm up between now and 2028 – or that if Israel elects a new leader this autumn, that that person would not be able to rebuild much of Israel’s political capital in Washington. And similarly, if Vance’s stance on Israel helps him capture the “America First” – which is no easy task given the cohesion within that movement of the Christian Zionist camp that remains strongly pro-Israel – he may then have to contend with a Democratic competitor who seizes the Israel-sceptic mantle more credibly. Advertisement Or not. It is still early, but the favoured nominee on the Democratic side appears to be California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose few forays into commentary on Palestine and Israel have quickly been walked back to appease the pro-Israel backers of the party establishment. Indeed, the Democrats will have their own complicated, and likely ugly, battle to fight when it comes to Israel. What does appear certain, however, is that Israel will be a wedge issue in the upcoming election – and in the wake of the failed Iran war and increasingly unpopular attacks on free speech, both greatly driven by the government of Israel or its aligned lobbies, there is an opening here that Vance, given his competition with Rubio, would have been foolish to ignore. So is Vance’s public criticism of Israel – and pro-Israel voices within his own party genuine, or calculated? As Vance put it in his book Hillbilly Elegy, “I don’t believe in epiphanies. I don’t believe in transformative moments, as transformation is harder than a moment. I’ve seen far too many people awash in a genuine desire to change only to lose their mettle when they realised just how difficult change actually is.” Until now, little is harder in Republican politics than to go against the prevailing dogma on Israel. And while Vance has long demonstrated what might be termed isolationist tendencies, there is no reason to think that his recent comments represent an epiphany. Rather, like any politician, he is reading the tea leaves, and sensing an opportunity on the back of a change that is filtering across American public opinion. Vance may not be committed to driving that change. But he may be smart enough
Delhi singes with ‘feel-like’ temperature of 50 degrees Celsius, why extreme heat scorches residents
Delhi continued to reel under intense heat on Sunday, with the heat index crossing 50°C and a dust storm hitting parts of the city, though weather officials have predicted relief later this week.
Pune’s Nasrapur Rape Case: 65-year-old man to be ‘hanged till death’ for raping, murdering 3-year-old
The convict, identified as Bhimrao Kambale, was found guilty of raping and murdering the minor in Nasrapur village. The incident took place on May 1.
Ketan Murder Case: Investigators probe money trail, Siya allegedly took Rs 1 crore from victim, gave it to ‘lover’ Chetan
Investigators believe they wanted the public attention on the case to fade and for Chetan to achieve financial stability during that time.
Delhi’s new EV policy 2026 to rollout from July 1 after Cabinet approval; Road tax exemption among key benefits
In a move to reduce ai pollution in the National Capital, the Delhi Cabinet has approved the Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy 2026, which will likely be implemented from July 1.
Mumbai Muharram poisoning plot: How accused Fayyaz Premji turned his hotel room into poison factory
Fayyaz Premji, aged 39, had checked into a hotel in Mumbai’s Dongri area around a fortnight before Muharram. Premji is accused of attempting to distribute the poison-filled capsules among devotees during a Muharram procession in the city.
Who is Pradeep Kurulkar? Ex-DRDO official accused in Pakistan’s alleged ISI honey-trap case involving BrahMos, Agni-6
Pradeep Kurulkar, ex-Director of DRDO’s Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) came under the scrutiny after allegations regarding providing sensitive and confidential information to a woman claimed to be a Pakistani intelligence operative.
Who was Sarla Bhat? Yasin Malik to face trial in 1990 rape-murder case linked to Kashmiri pandit exodus
Yasin Malik, Kashmiri separatist leader, has been named main accused in the 1990 Sarla Bhat rape-murder case after the State Investigation Agency (SIA) filed 737-page chargesheet naming him the alleged mastermind in the case.