Enzo Maresca is hoping he and his Leicester City players can avoid getting wrapped up in the club’s financial predicament that could knock them off course in their push for promotion.
The City manager addressed the topic for the first time on Friday afternoon, with the club at risk of two breaches of Profit and Sustainability Rules. If charged, City could be hit with a points deduction next season, while to avoid further punishment, they will need to sell players this summer, before the end of the financial year.
But these matters are out of Maresca’s hands. He said the noise around the club’s finances is “something we don’t like” and “can be something bad for the players” but he knows all he can and the squad can do is keep preparing and playing games as they have done all season in order to get over the line and secure a place in the Premier League.
City head to Hull on Saturday with a five-point cushion inside the top two of the Championship. Here’s every word Maresca said on the financial situation at his press conference on Friday.
Q: What is your understanding of the financial situation at the club? What have you been told?
EM: I have been told exactly the same that you can read everywhere. In this moment, it’s not something I am paying attention to. The focus is only on tomorrow. We’ll see in the next days and the next weeks.”
Q: Are you concerned that these topics can distract the players?
EM: “No, to be honest. We have to be focused in this moment. At the same time, it’s something we don’t like. But we have 10 more games that’s the most important thing for us. For the players, for the staff, for everyone, that’s the most important thing. In the next days, in the next weeks, we’ll see what happens. It’s something I can’t control, and the things that I can’t control, there’s nothing to do.”
Q: Has it made promotion even more important?
EM: “No. We always said that getting promoted is something important. I think it’s still something important. Because I don’t know what’s going on in the next days, in the next weeks, I don’t have the feeling that it’s more important. What is important is still important.”
Q: Do sporting sanctions impact your enjoyment of football?
EM: “I don’t know, it’s so complicated. They tried to explain to me the situation but in some moments, I stopped them because it’s so difficult. The most important thing for me as a manager and for the players is just to be focused on the games and try to win games. Even if they are human beings and they use social media, so they read information, and this can be something bad for the players. They are intelligent and they know it’s about playing games and trying to win games.”
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