Leicester City star Ricardo Pereira has hailed departing manager Enzo Maresca, as he closes in on a move to Chelsea.
The Portuguese defender has been speaking to Marca about his manager as he looks set to leave the Foxes to replace Mauricio Pochettino.
Maresca has seen his stock rise considerably over the last year after taking charge of Leicester last summer following their relegation to the Championship.
He led the Foxes back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, dominating the Championship for much of the campaign before something of a wobble in the middle of the season made things tighter at the top than they ought to have been.
Nonetheless they finished the campaign as champions with 97 points, a point ahead of Ipswich in second with 31 wins from 46 games in total.
The belief had been that he would lead them in their first season back but that looks unlikely to happen, with Chelsea having moved quickly over the last week to secure his signature following Pochettino’s departure.
They’ve seemingly identified Maresca as the ideal man to lead their project at Stamford Bridge, attracted by the work he did at Leicester last season and feeling he is a better fit for the project they’re undertaking than the Argentine.
A move has been steadily progressing this week and Pereira has now detailed the man Chelsea will be getting if things are concluded as expected.
“I like that he is direct,” he said.
“He maintains the mentality of a player and says things as they are. He takes great care of those who play the least and that is important.
“Tactically he is very good, the best coach I’ve had. His way of playing is complex… but the way he explains it makes it seem easy. We all know what we have to do… and what the rest is going to do.
“He has things like Pep (Guardiola). He wants to have possession; he looks to come out from behind…”
