Maresca Exit Clause Claimed as Relegation Threat Looms Over City

Maresca 'Would Not Stay' if City Drop, Says Former Everton CEO

Enzo Maresca will not hang around at the Etihad if Manchester City are relegated from the Premier League. That is the view of Keith Wyness, the former Everton chief executive, who believes the City boss has already protected himself against the worst-case scenario.

Wyness, who ran a football consultancy after leaving Goodison Park in 2009, told Football Insider that Maresca is bound to have a relegation release clause written into the contract he signed upon arriving at the club in the summer. The 46-year-old, a former Chelsea boss, has guided City to a 100 per cent start to the new Premier League season, but that form has done little to quiet the noise surrounding the club's ongoing dispute with the Premier League.

City have been found guilty of 114 financial breaches, according to Wyness, and face the prospect of being demoted down the leagues. The club hierarchy remain adamant that they will contest the decision, but Wyness has already described their hopes of success as 'tenuous at best'. He feels their guilt is undeniable and that any appeal must focus on specific points of law.

And he has gone further, indicating that City are 'certain' to receive a points deduction of at least 50 points, a punishment that would effectively seal their relegation this season.

"He wouldn't walk away in the middle of the season if the punishment is dished out in the coming months. Instead, he would see out the remainder of the campaign before enforcing his exit on the club next summer."

That is the scenario Wyness sketched out: not a mid-season flounce, but a calculated departure once the campaign has played out. He believes Maresca would hold the club to the agreement, an exit route he considers inevitable for a manager of his standing.

The appeal process, Wyness suggested last week, is likely to take a maximum of three months. That timeline would push any final resolution towards the business end of the season, leaving Maresca and his squad to navigate the speculation while trying to maintain their form on the pitch.

City's start has been flawless so far, but the bigger picture remains anything but. Relegation, once unthinkable, is now a subject of open discussion among those paid to analyse the boardroom. For Maresca, the clause is not an act of disloyalty; it is simply the reality of managing a club in limbo.