5 days ago
38 ARTICLE AD
Published February 13, 2025 11:50pm Updated February 13, 2025 11:51pm
Enzo Maresca has condemned the ‘completely wrong’ decision for Chelsea to play on transfer deadline day after losing both Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu to injury in the final hours of the January window.
The Blues sealed a 2-1 victory over West Ham United in a game that kicked off just hours before the mid-season transfer window closed on 2 February.
Jackson suffered a hamstring injury in the first-half of the match and while he tried to continue, was forced off early in the second period. His replacement Guiu also picked up a knock in the second-half.
Jackson is now expected to be sidelined until April with Guiu also facing a spell out with both strikers struggling with hamstring issues.
It was a busy final day at Stamford Bridge with Joao Felix, Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka leaving on loan but the timing of injuries for Jackson and Guiu left the club with no time to bring in replacements.
‘I think it’s completely wrong,’ Maresca said of the scheduling decision, with Chelsea and West Ham the only Premier League sides in action on deadline day.
‘No [we can’t plan for it] and the reason is that we had two injuries on the deadline. We finished the game at 10pm and the deadline was 11pm. You cannot plan to get injuries to two strikers in the same game.
‘It’s impossible, but it happened and now we need to find solutions because we didn’t have time to go for a No9.
‘It’s something you cannot plan, in the same game, on the deadline, two strikers both injured. It’s difficult to plan that.’
Christopher Nkunku, who was linked with moves to Bayern Munich and Manchester United last month, would appear best placed to step in for Jackson and lead the Chelsea attack in the coming weeks.
But Maresca has suggested he will consider other options, insisting the Frenchman ‘is not a nine’.
‘Christo is a solution but not the only solution,’ he said. ‘I said many times I consider Christo a very important player from the start.
‘Now also with the transfer window closed, everyone is here and he can help us until the end. We are working to find a different solution. It can be Christo but also a different kind of player.
‘I said since day one that Christo is not a nine, he is an attacking midfielder. We know very well that Christo is not a nine. They (Nkunku and Jackson) are different on the ball and off the ball.
‘Sometimes we complain about players but then when they don’t play, you realise how important they are. He [Jackson] didn’t play against Brighton and then everyone was thinking it is difficult to play without a nine.
‘We know exactly how good Nico is on and off the ball. Christo is completely different on and off the ball.’
MORE: Who Chelsea could play in Conference League last-16
MORE: Man Utd fans ask ‘are we the problem?’ as Antony scores wondergoal for Betis
MORE: Who Manchester United, Tottenham and Rangers could play in the Europa League last-16
