Soon after Pep Guardiola tempted Xabi Alonso away from Real Madrid to instal him as Bayern Munich's midfield general in August 2014, the Catalan coach admitted that "if I can help a player of mine become a coach, by adding something to his development, I'll be happy. Johan Cruyff and others did that for me, and now it's my obligation to pay it forward."
Enzo Maresca, currently in charge of the team at Chelsea, worked as Pep Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City in their historic treble-winning 2022/23 season.
We spend a lot of time together, we go through the analysis of opposition and we talk a lot. He's given me a real big insight into the game, but he did when I was at Burnley with him as well. His experience at the level, where he's been and who he's been with. He's been a huge asset and there's a part of me that [thinks] he deserves this moment.