Enzo Maresca delivered a surprising answer when the press asked him about the lack of time of several Chelsea players, notably Christopher Nkunku. The Blues coach joked about the situation of the Frenchman who would still be happy when challenging Heidenheim this Thursday in the Conference League.
Arriving during the summer of 2023 from Leipzig, Christopher Nkunku is struggling to establish himself at Chelsea. After a first season disrupted by a major injury, the French striker is now content with parts of matches in the Premier League but shines in each of his appearances in the Conference League with already four goals. Asked on Wednesday about the desire of certain players to benefit from more minutes in the championship, Enzo Maresca responded with irony when we know that the coach is bald.
“And I would like to have long hair. And you know, it's like that, Joao Felix played a Premier League match the other day against Leicester. And of course Christopher Nkunku is also going to play Premier League matches. Premier League”, said the Italian coach of the London club to the press on the eve of the match against Heidenheim in C4. “But we have a lot of players and we try to share the minutes between them.”
Maresca wants to keep everyone happy
Sparkling on the stage, certainly facing less tough opponents than in England, Christopher Nkunku remains confined to a supersub role in the Premier League. Despite eleven appearances out of twelve possible, the 27-year-old Frenchman was content with just one start during the inaugural defeat against Manchester City in mid-August. But according to Enzo Maresca, the PSG titi will have minutes given Chelsea's schedule at the end of the year, which could prevent him from thinking about leaving during the winter transfer window.
“The intention, the objective, is to keep them all happy but knowing that sometimes that is not possible. And now, it is not the time to think about the month of January,” continued the Italian coach of the Blues in front of journalists. “It's the end of November and we still have a lot of games left, especially in December. And then we'll see.”
No Nkunku discomfort according to Maresca
Led in particular by Christopher Nkunku, Chelsea performed flawlessly in the Conference League championship phase. Leader with three victories in as many days, the London club has the best attack with 16 goals scored… a quarter of which went to the French international with 14 caps. A Christopher Nkunku who would not have expressed any possible discomfort to his coach.
“No, not at all. I spoke with Christopher a few days ago and he didn't tell me that he was unhappy,” Enzo Maresca assured again before his team's match in Germany this Thursday. “Of course he would like to play more minutes. But that's how it is for him like many players. And like I said, we have so many games, especially in December. Against Leicester, Joao Felix, Enzo Fernandez and Benoit Badiashile played.”
Before concluding on the subject: “I said from the start that there were not two teams but only one group with players who can play in the Premier League or the Europa Conference League. The proof was the match against Leicester.”
Jean-Guy Lebreton Journalist RMC Sport
