Enzo Maresca spoke to the media ahead of Chelsea's clash with West Ham (Image: Getty)
Enzo Maresca has explained his decision to leave Cole Palmer out of Chelsea's Europa Conference League squad this season. The 22-year-old lit up Stamford Bridge last campaign and tackling Europe without his creative ability is a big risk for the Blues' new manager.
But Maresca insists that managing Palmer's workload, as well as that of Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia, who were also left out, is his top priority.
"The reason why Cole, Wes and Romeo are out of the squad in the Conference League is to protect them a little bit," Maresca explained during his press conference on Friday. "For Cole, it's a mix. It was an intense season for him last year. We are trying to protect him."
Chelsea, who finished sixth last season, get their Conference League campaign underway at home to Gent on October 3. One player who could be involved against the Belgians is Christopher Nkunku.
The Frenchman has scored six goals in 20 games since signing for Chelsea, but debate persists over where he should play. Palmer and Joao Felix are already battling it out for the No 10 spot, Nicolas Jackson is Maresca's first-choice striker, and Nkunku does not like playing out wide.
Amid such intense competition for minutes, Maresca has explained why he is sometimes forced to field Nkunku in one of his unfavoured positions.
Christopher Nkunku is struggling to oust Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea's starting line-up (Image: Getty)
"This season we used Nico up front, it doesn’t mean we aren’t going to use Christoph or Marc (Guiu), but we’re very happy with Nico," he explained. "[Nkunku] is completely different to Nicolas. Nico is a number nine, Nkunku isn’t a real number nine.
"I’m so happy with the squad we have, not just those two. Nkunku doesn’t like to play wide, he likes to play centre, but sometimes, to find the balance, he plays in a position that isn’t the best for him."
With the power struggle between Chelsea's attacking ranks slowly working itself out, Maresca also shed light on where he sees each of his options playing when they are all fit.
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"Hopefully I can clarify. As a left winger, we have Jadon [Sancho] and Misha [Mykhaylo Mudryk]," he began. "On the right, we have Noni [Madueke] and Pedro [Neto]. As a 10 we have Cole and Joao. As a nine we have Christoph and Nicolas."
On why Neto has been playing wide left this season despite naming him as a right-sided player, Maresca added: "Because Jadon wasn't here or wasn't ready, and I preferred Pedro over Misha for that game."
