Maresca's Brutal Honesty: "Both strikers can pack their bags"

By Lewis Barnett 22 August, 2025 5 mins read 81 Views

Listen, I've covered Chelsea for eight years now, and I've never seen a manager this blunt about wanting players gone.

Enzo Maresca just basically told Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku to find new clubs - or sit at home. Both strikers are getting the cold shoulder treatment for Friday's trip to West Ham, despite being perfectly fit. The Italian's message? I'd rather play with two forwards than keep you around moping.

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My mate who works in Chelsea's media team texted me after Maresca's presser: "Boss just torched two £100m+ assets in 30 seconds." And honestly? Good for him.

The manager was asked if maybe keeping Jackson as backup to new signings Joao Pedro and Liam Delap made sense. His response was ice cold: "It's better for Nico if what he desires is going to happen."

Translation: Don't let the door hit you on teh way out.

"The player is open to leave. If he finds a good solution, he's going to leave," Maresca continued. Then he dropped the same verdict on Nkunku: "It's always better if they find a solution, as they are going to be more happy — and the club the same."

The £60m gamble nobody wants to take

Here's where it gets messy. Newcastle, Aston Villa, and Napoli have all sniffed around Jackson. But Chelsea want £60m+ for a striker who scored 17 goals last season but still divides opinion like Marmite.

Poor Nkunku's situation is even more complicated.

Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig want him on loan - basically a glorified test drive. Chelsea's response? Absolutely not. Buy him or leave him alone.

I feel stupid now for thinking this transfer window would be straightforward for Chelsea. They've spent the last three years collecting forwards like Pokemon cards, and now they're trying to offload half of them in two weeks.

Pedro and Delap: The chosen ones

So who's left standing? Maresca seems genuinely excited about his new strike partnership, even if the rest of us are scratching our heads.

"Pedro probably gives us more than Liam in small spaces," he explained. "Liam probably gives us a little bit more in terms of physicality, in terms of runs in behind. So it depends a little bit on the game plan."

Sounds great in theory. But here's the reality check...

Neither Pedro nor Delap managed a single decent chance against Crystal Palace last Sunday. Zero goals, zero excitement, zero reason for optimism. If Chelsea can't break down West Ham on Friday without Jackson and Nkunku, Maresca's going to look like he's playing Russian roulette with his own job.

The pressure cooker starts now

Back in 2019, I watched Frank Lampard make similar bold decisions about squad harmony over talent. It worked... until it didn't.

Maresca's betting that two motivated strikers beat four unmotivated ones. The math might work, but Premier League defenses don't care about your philosophy when you're staring at another 0-0 draw.

At least Tosin Adarabioyo's back from injury for Friday's game. Small mercies and all that.

But if the Blues fail to score again, all those brave words about player happiness are going to sound pretty hollow when the pressure starts building. And in west London, that pressure builds faster than traffic on the M25.

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