Chelsea may sign another striker, says Enzo Maresca
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Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has a tough job to do at Stamford Bridge, as he has to manage the players he wants and also those he does not want in a bloated squad.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Chelsea will not shy away from bringing in a new No. 9 before the transfer window closes if the player improves their squad, their manager Enzo Maresca said on Aug 23.
The Blues have splashed out over £160 million (S$275 million) on signing players such as winger Pedro Neto, forward Joao Felix, midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Swedish-Danish goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen this summer.
Up front, they have strikers Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson. Marc Guiu is another option, after the 18-year-old joined from Spanish La Liga giants Barcelona in July.
According to The Guardian, Chelsea would like more competition in that area as Romelu Lukaku is set to depart for Italian side Napoli, whose striker Victor Osimhen they are reportedly looking at.
“If we sign players for the sake of signing, it’s better that we don’t sign any more because we don’t need to sign players just for the sake of it,” said new boss Maresca.
“If we sign a player (it is) to make us improve, otherwise we are happy with the way we are. If we have a chance to bring a No. 9 that makes us better, we are going to try."
Chelsea, who lost 2-0 in their English Premier League opener at home to Manchester City, travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Aug 25 and Neto could play against his former club.
“Pedro, the last time he played 90 minutes was in February. You can imagine, a long time ago. With him, and seven or eight more players... we need to also build the physical condition,” Maresca said, after the Portuguese played about an hour in their 2-0 win over Swiss side Servette in the Europa Conference League play-off first leg.
“Probably to give him another game on Sunday is too early, but we’ll see.”
Pedro’s compatriot Felix could also feature at Molineux, having returned to Chelsea on a permanent deal after spending six unimpressive months on loan during the 2022-23 season.
“He’s mature enough to understand what he has to do and to learn from his mistakes,” Maresca added.
“In terms of physicality, I think he is ready because he was already playing games there (at Atletico Madrid). He needs more time to understand the way we want to play but overall I think he can play. He is a top player, no doubt.”
Key forward Cole Palmer has a slight hamstring issue but should be fit enough for the match, while captain Reece James is the Blues’ only absentee.
Wolves manager Gary O’Neil was asked about Chelsea’s bloated squad – they have 42 first-team players listed on their website, although not all are training under the watchful eye of Maresca.
“I’m not sure how many he’s dealing with day to day but you can see Chelsea are still in a transition and they are still trying to sort a few bits out,” he said.
“That doesn’t mean they can’t be successful whilst they are in that transition. The amount of talent they have, they have a top coach as well, so they still have every right and chance of finishing very high up the league.” REUTERS, AFP
