Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has admitted that Marc Guiu is "evolving very well" ahead of Tuesday's Champions League showdown with Barcelona.
The season had initially looked very different for the Spain Under-21 international after he was loaned out to Sunderland in the summer before being hastily recalled amid the exit of Nicolas Jackson.
Guiu failed to feature in any of the first six games after his return, but the former Barcelona prodigy has been on an upward trajectory since playing an instrumental part of Chelsea's 2-1 victory over Liverpool on October 4.
After the 19-year-old set up Chelsea's match-clinching goal against Burnley on Saturday, there will be calls for him to start against the Spanish giants on Tuesday.
Speaking ahead of the Stamford Bridge showdown with the La Liga club at a press conference, Maresca admitted that Guiu was proving to be an asset to the squad.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, on November 1, 2025
Maresca heaps praise on Guiu ahead of Barcelona game
The Italian told reporters: "Marc is evolving very well, he came here last season, he had the chance to play almost all of the Conference League scoring six-seven goals and then unfortunately he got injured, he's growing, he's improving.
"This season has been a bit strange for him because he was injured and he came back last week so at the beginning it was a bit difficult for him but now he's working well
"We're very happy with him and the only thing he has to do for his age and different reasons is to work, work and learn and try to be prepared when he has the chance."
Chelsea forward Marc Guiu in October 2025.
Will Guiu start for Chelsea against Barcelona?
Since returning from a hamstring injury, Chelsea are yet to see the best of Liam Delap, particularly against Burnley at the weekend.
As a result, Guiu is in contention to start what would be the biggest game of his career, despite only making two starts and four substitute outings for Chelsea in 2025-26.
Guiu has accumulated just 27 minutes across two appearances since his last start on October 25, and Maresca may prefer to use the youngster to press Barcelona during the closing quarter of the game rather than play him for the first hour.
A scenario could emerge where both Delap and Guiu start on the substitutes' bench and Joao Pedro be used as the number nine. That will realistically only happen if Andrey Santos or Reece James are used alongside Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez deployed as a number 10.
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