Enzo Maresca ‘cancelled’ Thursday’s rest day for the Chelsea first team after an embarrassing loss to one of the Blues’ youth sides, it has been claimed.
Chelsea are preparing for an important end to the campaign as they look to qualify for next season’s Champions League, while also going far in their remaining cup competitions. Maresca’s side currently sit fourth in the Premier League, one point ahead of Manchester City and two ahead of Newcastle United.
Although, Newcastle do have a game in hand and could leapfrog both Chelsea and City by picking up another win.
Chelsea may have been knocked out of both the FA Cup and League Cup, but they are still in with a shout of lifting silverware this term.
They are favourites to win the Europa Conference League and will face Legia Warsaw in the quarter-finals in April.
Chelsea will also take part in this summer’s Club World Cup, which has been expanded by FIFA to include 32 teams. There is £97m on offer to the winner of the competition, too.
In preparation for Chelsea’s London derby against Tottenham Hotspur next week, Maresca organised a game against the Blues’ U21s on Wednesday. The opposition also had several members of the club’s U16s.
Incredibly, the senior Chelsea team lost 3-0. 19-year-old Donnell McNeilly bagged a brace and was joined on the scoresheet by 16-year-old Chizaram Ezenwata.
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Maresca stunned by poor result
Maresca was left ‘fuming’ by the performance and result from his players and subsequently ‘cancelled’ their day off on Thursday, as per The Chelsea Spot.
It is unclear at this stage exactly which first-team players were involved in the match. However, it does not bode well for their return to Premier League action.
There is speculation that forwards Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke probably played as they step up their recovery from injury. Maresca likely wanted to give them minutes, though he was ultimately left frustrated by what happened behind closed doors.
The Italian wants to take Chelsea to the next level by helping them challenge for major honours such as the Premier League and Champions League.
To do this, he needs to improve positions such as centre-forward, centre-back and left wing.
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With Jadon Sancho at risk of being immediately sold and Mykhailo Mudryk’s future uncertain, Chelsea are hoping to bring in Nico Williams as their new left winger.
TEAMtalk can reveal that Chelsea officials have made fresh contact to see if they can win the busy race for the Athletic Club star.
It recently emerged that Chelsea look set to lose out in the chase for Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen.
But all is not lost, as they have made Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi their new ‘priority’ for central defence.
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