Enzo Maresca has been urged to drop ‘non-existent’ Christopher Nkunku for Chelsea’s upcoming Premier League clash against Aston Villa.
Chelsea spent over £50m to sign Nkunku from RB Leipzig in 2023 however the French forward has endured a difficult time at Stamford Bridge.
Injuries limited Nkunku to only 11 Premier League appearances last season and he has played back-up to Nicolas Jackson for much of the present campaign, a lot so he was linked with a move away from west London through the January transfer window.
Jackson’s recent injury setback gave Nkunku a probability to impress however the 27-year-old struggled in Chelsea’s successive defeats to Brighton.
With Jackson still out, Nkunku might be asked to steer the road once more at Villa Park on Saturday but ex-Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino believes this might be a mistake.
‘We’ve seen an actual drop from Chelsea, an actual drop-off in performance,’ he told talkSPORT.
‘They’ve an actual issue at centre-forward. Nkunku, I’m sorry, but you’re carrying him as a centre-forward.
‘I had no idea why Maresca chosen him after the performance he put in within the cup game against Brighton.
‘He was non-existent. And what did we see within the second game against Brighton? The exact same performance.
‘I’ll give him one good thing about the doubt: he just isn’t a centre-forward, his best play has at all times been off the left.’
Nkunku is clearly a talented player but Maresca is ‘not playing to his strengths’, in response to former Chelsea goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
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‘The thing about Nkunku is I’ve seen him play loads in Germany and I’m a large fan of him,’ he said on The Seaman Says podcast with Betway.
‘I believe he’s a very, really good player, but they don’t play to his strengths. There was one moment in the sport where they did, and there was this straight, easy ball excessive, and Nkunku was lacking a lot confidence.
‘He desired to hit it together with his right but must have hit it together with his left, and he looked to play across somewhat lob to Cole Palmer and it didn’t go very far since it was a very difficult one.
‘The Christopher Nkunku from two seasons ago would have smashed it and scored. It’s a transparent lacking of confidence they usually’re not playing to his strengths in anyway.
‘That’s a part of the difficulty, and Chelsea have done that a bit over time. They bought players that don’t really fit their system.
‘Nicolas Jackson does fit the way in which that Enzo Maresca desires to play. He’s hardworking, he’s pushing forward on a regular basis, he stays up, he’ll put pressure on the defenders, whereas Nkunku is then coming, in search of the ball.
‘There was one moment in the sport where he was back as a centre-half because he felt like he just wasn’t getting any ball. He was getting high, balls lobbed as much as him and he’s like, what am I going to do with that?
‘So that you must have him more involved. He’s one in all those players, give him the ball, he’ll give it and go. He just doesn’t have that support around him.’
Chelsea travel to Villa Park on Saturday having won just three of their last 11 games in all competitions, dropping from second to sixth within the Premier League.
Aston Villa have also undergone a difficult run – going five league games with out a win – but Unai Emery’s side held Premier League leaders Liverpool to a 2-2 attract midweek.
Chelsea thumped Villa 3-0 within the corresponding fixture back in early December because of goals from Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer.
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