'It makes me laugh' - Keith Wyness can't believe how low Man City's Enzo Maresca 'transfer fee' is

Chelsea’s compensation payment for Manchester City appointing Enzo Maresca is “pretty high” at £17million. 

That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Blues had “cards to play” in the negotiations because of the way that City approached the Italian. 

The 46-year-old is now on the verge of being appointed as Pep Guardiola’s successor at the Etihad Stadium, after the two clubs finally sealed an agreement on the financial settlement.

Wyness is clear that the £17m package represents a good deal for Chelsea, but also feels that City will have had no issues with paying that amount. 

Chelsea parted company with Maresca in early January, just days after a controversial interview had hinted at problems behind the scenes. 

City are widely reported to have held discussions with him before he left Stamford Bridge, and Wyness feels that has come back to bite them in the settlement. 

Keith Wyness questions compensation fees for managers

Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – has questioned why fees for top managers have not yet climbed as high as those for players.

The Scottish businessman argued that the boss is the most important figure on the footballing side of the club. 

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, he made it clear that City are content with their £17m payment, due to the suggestion of them “tapping up” Maresca.

“Chelsea had a few cards, and it does seem that City had been talking to Maresca while he was under contract with Chelsea. So there's a theory of tapping up here and potential action there,” Wyness said.

“I think that came into the negotiations, with Chelsea having those sort of cards to play, it seems that they've got a pretty high compensation level. To City, that's not going to be a significant amount of money.

“To replace somebody like Pep, who Pep has given his blessing on, again, they've done thorough research, and they've done it so they're prepared to pay that amount.

“It still makes me laugh when you think a manager is probably the most important person in the club and yet they're nowhere near transfer fees in terms of players, in terms of compensation. 

“City will probably come up with a schedule of payment over a period of time, and it'll satisfy both. City had been actively talking to Maresca when they shouldn't have been. That's why the numbers turned out to be so high.”

Enzo Maresca already has first Man City exit in mind

Football Insider recently revealed that Maresca is planning to offload Savinho as soon as possible when he takes the reins at the Etihad. 

The Brazilian has faced an uncertain future in recent months, and there is still clear interest for a deal from Tottenham this summer. 

Savinho struggled for gametime under Guardiola in 2025-26, and the change of manager now looks set to have a negative effect for him, rather than a positive one. 

The winger was tipped to have a big future ahead of him when he first arrived at the Etihad, but that simply hasn’t materialised so far.