Enzo Maresca explains why he’s selling ‘fantastic’ Chelsea star for just £36m

Enzo Maresca has explained his decision to sell off one Chelsea star, with the club set to make a loss on the ‘fantastic’ player.

Chelsea have been very busy this summer transfer window, with the impending arrival of Alejandro Garnacho from Manchester United set to bring their total outlay to £282million.

But the Blues have also done a sterling job with selling players, banking £239m so far, a number that is set to rise before Monday’s deadline day with several bomb-squad stars still on their books.

In the last few days a deal worth £36m plus a sell-on clause has been agreed with AC Milan for out-of-favour forward Christopher Nkunku.

The 27-year-old moved to Stamford Bridge from RB Leipzig just two years ago in a much-anticipated £52m transfer, but the move never worked out for the France international.

He missed almost all of his debut season through injury and when he got back to full fitness he was kept out of the starting XI by Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson.

The arrival of Joao Pedro and Liam Delap has seem him fall further down the pecking order and he was left out of Chelsea’s opening two games of the new season.

After handing him just nine Premier League starts last season and after months of transfer speculation, one could be forgiven for thinking Maresca just wanted to see the back of Nkunku.

But speaking in his press conference ahead of Saturday’s clash against Fulham, the head coach praised the forward and backed him for success in Milan.

‘Christo is a fantastic professional, first of all. With us he was very professional, training very well,’ Maresca said.

‘The only problem with Christo has been that in his position there was another player like Cole, so it was difficult for him to get minutes.

‘But they can expect fantastic things, first of all because he is very professional, and second because he is a very good player.’

Maresca had less positive news about the other members of Chelsea’s bomb-squad like Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Nicolas Jackson, whose banishment from first-team training could continue after the window closes.

‘No idea at the moment,’ the Italian replied when asked what would happen to the players if they don’t secure a transfer exit in the next four days.

‘I don’t know. You know that they are not even with us. They are training at a different time, with a different pitch. So I don’t have any idea.

‘We’ll see. When the window closes, we’ll see and we’ll decide.’

Maresca also confirmed the long-awaited signing of Garnacho who joins the Blues after being exiled at United by Ruben Amorim, adding: ‘I know that he’s around here. I don’t know exactly where he is, but he’s around here.

‘And then he’s a player that is quite clear in his position. He’s a winger. And I see him as a winger.’

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