“We need a different solution” – Maresca rules out teenage striker’s return | OneFootball

A very gutted Enzo Maresca last night spoke to the media after Chelsea’s defeat to Newcastle at St James’ Park, where the result wasn’t the only damage done to the Blues’ Champions League hopes.

Nicolas Jackson got a red card which will rule him out of the final two games of the season suspended. That issue is compounded by the fact that we don’t really have a backup striker in the squad. We have Marc Guiu, who is very raw and has been injured since January.

With Jadon Sancho unable to play the first game against his parent club Manchester United, that means big questions for the lineup on Friday night.

Speaking about the situation after the game, Maresca seemed to rule out the prospect of the Catalan coming in for either of the two remaining matches.

Maresca plays down chances of youngster making surprise return

Marc Guiu looks to have injured himself against West Ham.

“What you have to do is avoid this kind of thing because you need all your squad available for the next game,” the Chelsea manager said.

“[Jackson] is our nine, he’s our striker, the other one is Marc Guiu that you know is already injured from the last three months.

“He’s close to being back and we need to find a different solution for the last two games. They are both important games.”

Guiu likely to wait until next season for next Chelsea appearance

Being close to being back isn’t really good enough. If it was prime Didier Drogba maybe we could throw him in. But this guy is a raw teenager who will be totally out of match fitness. It would be crazy to even give him a go.

It doesn’t feel at all impossible that Guiu is loaned out in the summer, and then sold in the future, meaning he would already have played his final competitive game for Chelsea.