Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca confirms that he had been left unhappy with Marc Guiu during the early weeks of his return from his loan at Sunderland.
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has revealed that he held a blunt chat with Marc Guiu having been left disappointed with the forward’s efforts in training.
Guiu had been due to spend the season on loan at Sunderland before Liam Delap suffered a hamstring injury, an issue that he is on the brink of returning from.
In recent games, the 19-year-old has made a major impact, impressing off the substitutes’ bench against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest before scoring against Ajax in midweek.
However, question marks had initially been raised over the decision to recall Guiu from the Black Cats when he failed to earn any minutes in the six matches after his return.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Sunderland, Maresca admitted that he had issues with the former Barcelona prodigy.
Maresca reveals Guiu issues upon return to Chelsea
The Italian claimed that the Spaniard was not making the required effort in training, subsequently resulting in him remaining down the pecking order.
Maresca said: “We had a chat with Marc two weeks ago, I told him that the way he was training I didn’t like and he needs to change.
“He changes and he got a chance, so it is like that.”
When pushed for further details in several follow-up questions, Maresca added that Guiu was ‘not training well in all the ways’.
Commenting further, Maresca said: “Since we chat, it’s top, it’s fantastic, it’s working very good.”
Crucial period for Guiu
With 106 minutes across the last three matches and in line to start against Sunderland on Saturday, Guiu’s Chelsea career is looking far more promising than it did at the start of October.
On the flip side, the pending return of Delap means that the Spain Under-21 international can ill-afford to drop his level as he bids to earn an extend period in Maresca’s squad.
Strasbourg’s Emanuel Emegha is due to join the squad either in January or, more realistically, next summer, and it may lead to any striker that underperforms being sacrificed.
That all said, Guiu seemingly has the number nine shirt for the time being and and has overtaken Tyrique George in the pecking order, leaving it up to him to take advantage.
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