"I was still working as a player with him and one day during a chat with him he said: 'You know when you finish as a player you should try to become a coach because I think you can be a good coach,'" Maresca recalled.
Maresca also credited outgoing manager Pep Guardiola for shifting his perspective on football tactics.
"I decided to be a manager because of Pep's team, Barcelona years ago," he revealed late last year.
He asserted that Guardiola's innovations changed football across Spain, Germany, and England.
"I think no one can be compared – this is my personal opinion – to that Barcelona, and to Pep.
Because I think they changed football in Spain, where every club was trying to play in that way," Maresca stated.
"And then Pep moved to Germany, and everyone was trying to play in that way in Germany.
The German international team, they won something in those years," he noted.
"I think Pep came in England and many clubs tried to do something similar, and also England in terms of international team," Maresca said.
"So, I don't think anyone can be compared to Pep, because I think in the last 20, 25 years he changed football."
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Maresca now takes over as the direct successor tasked with maintaining Manchester City's competitive domestic and European status following Guardiola's multi-year tenure.
