Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter
London City Lionesses wanted a coach who could help develop and consistently deliver a specific style of football.
They have been influenced by Spanish football and its successful possession-based style, and also the full-throttle approach, mixing creativity and direct football, which has helped deliver eight Women’s Champions League titles at Lyon – one of the clubs also owned by wealthy businesswoman Michele Kang.
A shortlist of coaches was drawn up when they decided to replace former manager Jocelyn Precheur and they did not rule out some from the men’s game.
The main criteria was centred around the playing style, the coach’s ability to collaborate with a wider team of expertise and to have a track record of developing players and talented youth.
Maestre showed his potential with Spanish clubs CD Tenerife and Real Sociedad and London City believe he can become a future leading figure in the game
Led by chief executive officer Martin Semmens, London City have been working on a long-term project to achieve their aims of reaching European competition by 2026.
That is an ambitious target for a club only promoted to the WSL for the first time this season and their decision to replace Precheur with Maestre may have been premature but they were willing to take the risk and will be judged on that with intrigue.
