Chelsea could still bring in a number of players to bolster Enzo Maresca’s squad but they’ll have to do it off the back of a boatload of sales that are yet to be completed. In the Italian’s own words, there are still 15 players at Cobham not training with the first team, and that’s a number that’ll need to be scaled down before Deadline Day on Friday. Last week, the Blues boss indicated that their gameplan for the final week of the transfer window will be to find players that won’t be in his plans new homes – but that may take time giving the amount of overhauling he’s planning.
Enzo Maresca said “I just communicate the players that I like and the players I don’t like and because there is one week, or 10 days, left of the transfer window, hopefully we can find solutions for all of them, When you find solutions, everyone is happy. When you don’t find a solution, then you can create some problems. At the moment, with the squad that we have, I am working with 22, 23 or 21 players – not with the 42 players otherwise it is impossible . It is impossible for any manager in the world to make a session with 45 players. It’s impossible. You cannot do that. Hopefully when the transfer window is finished, if they [players that aren’t training with them] find a solution then hopefully for them it is better. In case they don’t find a solution, I do not know, we are going to see.”
Amid the pile of ‘sell’ players, there are those they’ve already signed this summer – 11 in total – but that number could well rise to at least 13 over the coming days. Talk of a potential swap deal for Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho and the over-present reports surrounding their chase for Napoli striker Victor Osimhen appear to be the two most likely arrivals which would follow an influx of young talent.
Another star that may yet to be linked with an exit but could be deemed necessary to take a loan move for development is Mykhailo Mudryk. The young Ukrainian has found it difficult to adapt to the Premier League in the 18 months since he first joined the Blues and Maresca himself has already hinted that he’ll need to fundamentally change the way he thinks about the sport. In a press conference last weekend, he explained why he subbed off the 23-year-old at half-time to make space for Pedro Neto.
Enzo Maresca said “Because I was not happy. I think in some moments we can manage some situations better. He was working very hard off the ball and that was very good. But in terms of on the ball, I expect a bit more quality from Misha. For me, he had some good moments the other day and some good moments today and the reason why was just because we needed to change and give Pedro [Neto] some minutes. He’s also hinted at the star’s flippant nature on the pitch, claiming after the Servette fixture. I think this is Misha, this is Mudryk, in terms of not only tonight, but in terms of since he joined the club. I think he had some good moments and then some moments like flipping a coin. You don’t know if it’s one thing or the other thing. This is Misha. If he can become more consistent, he can take one step forward. We are going to try and help him change. He needs to try and understand that we are going to give him the ball in the last third. And when he’s there [it’s about] taking the right decision . For me, most of the mistakes from Misha is not about the quality or the technical mistake, it’s about the choice. Sometimes he has to play and he tries to do something different and we lose the ball. Sometimes he has to go one-v-one, it’s about decision making. Hopefully we can help him and improve that.”
While the youngster still has an incredibly high ceiling, there’s only been glimpses of that quality throughout his time at Stamford Bridge and if Maresca isn’t the manager to extract that talent and potential, then it may be time for the Blues to cut their losses sooner rather than later.
