Manchester City confirm Enzo Maresca’s backroom team ahead of 2026-27 campaign
· Yahoo Sports
- Man City have confirmed the backroom staff who will work alongside Enzo Maresca next season
- The coaching team includes Roberto Vitiello, Willy Caballero & five further new additions
- Set piece coach James French & goalkeeper coach Richard Wright will continue in current roles
Manchester City have confirmed the backroom team that will work alongside new manager Enzo Maresca at the Etihad Stadium ahead of the 2026-27 season.
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Maresca has wasted no time in assembling the coaching structure around him since his appointment as Manchester City manager was confirmed, with the Italian drawing on a combination of trusted collaborators from his previous roles and specialists already embedded within the club’s existing coaching infrastructure.
The announcement brings clarity to one of the more consequential elements of Maresca’s early work at the Etihad Stadium, with the identity of a manager’s backroom team a telling indicator of the tactical philosophy and working culture he intends to establish as he begins the process of making the squad his own.
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Director of football Hugo Viana has been closely involved in the wider staffing decisions across the club’s football operation this summer, with the backroom confirmation arriving as part of a broader process of structural preparation ahead of pre-season under Manchester City’s new management setup.
The confirmation from the club follows a summer in which the coaching landscape at the Etihad Stadium has been significantly reshaped, with Pep Guardiola‘s departure at the end of last season triggering a comprehensive review of every element of the first-team structure that Viana and Maresca have since been working through systematically.
Confirmed: Maresca’s full Man City coaching setup for the 2026-27 season
As confirmed by Manchester City, Maresca’s backroom team will include Roberto Vitiello, Willy Caballero, Danny Walker, Michele De Bernardin, Marcos Alvarez, Denis Silva and Javier Molina as the new additions to his first-team coaching staff at the Etihad Stadium.
Set piece coach James French and goalkeeping coach Richard Wright will both continue in the roles they held during the 2025-26 season, providing a degree of institutional continuity and knowledge as the new management structure settles in.
The presence of Caballero within Maresca’s staff carries a particularly resonant quality given the former goalkeeper’s own history as a player at the Etihad Stadium, with his understanding of the club’s culture and standards likely to prove a valuable asset as the new coaching team begins to embed itself within the existing fabric of the squad.
The retention of French and Wright is a considered decision, acknowledging the specific expertise those individuals bring in their respective disciplines while allowing Maresca the freedom to build the rest of the staff around his own preferences and working relationships developed across his managerial career to date.
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What does Maresca’s backroom team reveal about Man City’s new direction?
The composition of the coaching staff offers early clues about the working methods and tactical priorities Maresca intends to bring to the Etihad Stadium, with a team of seven new additions alongside two retained specialists suggesting a deliberate balance between fresh ideas and established institutional knowledge.
Maresca’s own publicly stated intention to focus exclusively on his coaching role rather than serving as a wider figurehead for the club is reflected in the structure of the backroom team, which carries the hallmarks of a setup designed to support a highly specific and detail-oriented approach to preparation and player development.
The retention of Wright as goalkeeping coach is particularly significant in the context of the uncertainty surrounding James Trafford’s future at the club, with the presence of an experienced and trusted specialist in that role ensuring stability in the position regardless of how the situation around the squad’s goalkeeping options resolves itself over the remainder of the summer.
Whether the coaching team Maresca has assembled proves the foundation of a new era of sustained success at the Etihad Stadium will only become clear once competitive football returns, but the confirmation of his full backroom structure marks an important step in the process of transforming what remains a significant squad rebuild into a functioning, cohesive unit ready to challenge on all fronts under new management.