Chelsea to appoint Enzo Maresca with Italian to target three key areas this summer

Chelsea are poised to complete the appointment of Enzo Maresca in the next 24 hours after thrashing out a compensation deal worth £10 million with Leicester City.

Maresca will put the finishing touches to a five-year contract on Wednesday before being confirmed as Chelsea’s sixth-permanent manager in the past five years.

The 44-year-old Italian is currently on holiday in Marbella and spent most of Tuesday in talks with Chelsea’s sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart as he outlined his plans for the future.

Winstanley and Stewart have both flown out to the Costa del Sol to wrap up an appointment which the Chelsea hierarchy regard as a significant and exciting coup in their journey.

Maresca is already discussing potential transfer targets and will prioritise a new goalkeeper, left-back and forward when the summer window opens.

Chelsea are determined to respect Leicester during negotiations and will pay a compensation package which could be just over £10 million, as it includes Maresca and five backroom staff.

Willy Caballero, the former Chelsea goalkeeper and assistant manager, coach Danny Walker, goalkeeper coach Michele de Bernardin, fitness coach Marcos Alvarez and first-team analyst Javier Molina Caballero are all expected to join Maresca at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca will leave Leicester after just one full season in charge, which ended with the club lifting the Championship title.

The former midfielder is regarded as a perfect fit by Chelsea’s ownership, with the club intent on finding a head coach who can develop a possession-based style with the focus on positional play.

Chelsea have already agreed an initial fee of £29.15 million for Brazilian teenager Estevao Willian. The winger, who is nicknamed ‘Messinho’, is regarded as one of the best young talents in South America.

Players are also expected to leave over the next few months, with England international Conor Gallagher a target for Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa.

Chelsea will listen to offers for a number of other homegrown players, including Trevoh Chalobah and Armando Broja. Ian Maatsen, the defender currently on loan at Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund, is also likely to leave the club permanently this summer.

Non-international players return to pre-season training at the start of July and the plan was to have a new head coach installed long before then, following the exit of Mauricio Pochettino by mutual consent last week.