Chelsea could be ready to offload three players this summer after their humiliating 4-1 defeat to Celtic in pre-season, which highlighted the true scale of Enzo Maresca’s task at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues are still looking for their first victory under the Italian, who succeeded Mauricio Pochettino as their new boss on July 1. Their 2-2 draw with Wrexham on Wednesday did not prove to be an anomaly, as Maresca’s side produced another dismal defensive display in Notre Dame.
Maresca fielded a strong lineup including Christopher Nkunku, Wesley Fofana and Mykhaylo Mudryk. But the west London side were torn apart at the back in a disjointed 4-2-3-1 formation as Matt O’Riley, Kyogo Furuhashi, Luis Palma and Michael Johnston put the Scottish champions 4-0 up, before Nkunku’s late consolation from the penalty spot.
Fofana struggled alongside Benoit Badiashile at the heart of the Chelsea defence and the defensive pair were all at sea for the opening two goals scored by O’Riley and Furuhashi. Fofana’s replacement Tosin Adarabioyo didn’t fare much better, looking way short of full fitness as Johnston raced past him to score Celtic’s fourth.
Further up the pitch, Mudryk cut an anonymous figure on the left wing and the Ukrainian was hooked at the break following his poor display. It didn’t reflect well on the 23-year-old that his replacement, Raheem Sterling, was the best player on the pitch in the second half and injected Chelsea with some much-needed energy.
After the game, Maresca admitted his side are still getting used to his system despite spending a month together on the training ground and demanded an improvement from his side in their next game.
“Off the ball we need to improve things. You can see sometimes we confuse when we need to play short and when we need to play a little bit longer but that is part of the process,” Maresca said after the game in Notre Dame.
“We maintained a high line but when the ball is not under pressure, you need to drop … we are still confusing some things on the ball and off the ball. It is normal in this moment when we are trying to do something new.”
Despite demonstrating flashes of their potential, Chelsea fans have been far from convinced by Mudryk since he arrived in a £88m transfer in January 2023. The former Shakhtar Donetsk star has scored just seven goals in 58 appearances for the club and time is running out to prove he can turn things around.
Similarly, Badiashile’s performances have been going from bad to worse. It was recognised as a coup when Chelsea clinched his signature in a £35m deal, but Badiashile’s positioning and marking will be a huge concern for Maresca, whose tactical system relies heavily on the former.
Fofana will also have reasons to be concerned for his own future after a nightmare period since his £70m transfer from Leicester. The Frenchman has been injured for the majority of his two-year career at Chelsea and has featured only 20 times. He is still only 23, but the Blues could be tempted to cut their losses if this disastrous performance is anything to go by.
In any case, selling all three players would likely mean taking a huge loss, which doesn’t make financial sense for Todd Boehly after the £185m outlay. But Maresca will certainly be tempted to drop the trio after failing to impress him against Celtic.
