Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has confirmed to Christopher Nkunku that he still has a future at Stamford Bridge amid reports of a January possibility. departure.
After missing most of last season due to injury, Nkunku failed to force his way into Maresca's starting lineup this year, serving as a backup to Nicholas Jackson and instead seeing most of his minutes in the conference league.
There were reports claiming that Nkunku had become frustrated with his role in Chelseawith Barcelona are said to be exploring the possibility of a transfer.
However, Maresca made it clear that he wants to keep Nkunku, but admitted that he will not stand in the way of any player who wants to leave.
“We love Christo and we want him here, and there will always be unhappy players,” Maresca said. “I'm not sure if that's the case with Christo. We want to keep him here because we're happy with him.
“We don't think about players who want to leave. We don't think that this or that player should leave. We only think about how to win games. If they knock on the door and want to leave, I don't think about that.” I won't say: No, no, you have to stay here 100%.
“If they want to leave, the best thing for everyone is that the unhappy players will leave.”
Maresca has previously admitted that other fringe players, such as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Marc Guyot, will have to decide whether they are happy to continue fighting for first minutes, with Chelsea unwilling to part ways with the vast majority of players unless they ask for it. It moves.
However, the likes of Ben Chilwell and Carne Chukwuemeka, who are firmly at the bottom of the pecking order under Maresca, are expected to be available for a swap in January.