No talks: Enzo Maresca
Chelsea Football Newsletter
Enzo Maresca has not yet held discussions over possible January signings with Chelsea’s owners or sporting directors, who he admits are more important figures within the club than himself.
The Chelsea head coach says he is “delighted” with the squad as it is, despite having regularly bemoaned the club’s fate with injuries throughout the season. In the summer, he said the club needed another centre-back, only to ride back on that sentiment.
Maresca came in for questioning at his pre-match press conference on Monday ahead of the Cardiff City game in the Carabao Cup as reporters sought to clarify the comments he had made after Saturday’s win over Everton.
He had declared the “48 hours” leading into that game as “the worst” of his time at the club, because of a lack of support for him and his players. But both then and on Monday he refused to clarify who in particular he felt had not been supportive following the defeat to Atalanta in the Champions League.
It has led some to speculate that he may have been referring to the Chelsea owners or sporting directors.
“No, in this moment there is no time for nothing, just time to focus about the next [game] and then we see what is happening,” he said in response to being asked whether conversations have already taken place over about potential January transfer activity.
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“No, I’m delighted and very happy with the squad that we have,” he maintained.
Asked how strong his relationship with the Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali and co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart is, he replied: “It’s ok, it’s good.”
Pushed on whether it is as good as it has always been, he added: “I think so, yes.”
Maresca was also asked whether he feels the head coach is the most important figure at Chelsea, or indeed at any football club.
“I think the ones that put the money in are, not the manager,” he said. “It is the owner. I think they are the most important people in a football club.
“The manager is an important part but is not the most important one.”