“No..” – Enzo Maresca refuses to admit Chelsea messed up important defender’s transfer | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca was asked about a few players today after Chelsea’s big win, with Romeo Lavia getting the majority of his praise after a long awaited – and very effective – return to the team.

But in the post game press conference the Chelsea boss was also asked about Trevoh Chalobah, the defender who has become his first choice option at the back alongside Levi Colwill since being recalled from loan in January.

Maresca was asked about that slightly odd situation – the club freezing out and then loaning out a player because they didn’t want him, only for him to return in January and become first choice. The boss was happy to talk about how well he had played:

“I think Trevoh, since he’s back with us in January, he’s doing very, very well. He’s playing, he’s helping us, he’s defending when he needs to defend. He’s also building from the back when we need him so he’s able to do that and we are very happy with Trevoh.”

But Maresca refused to accept that it had been a slightly odd situation, one that stinks of squad mismanagement. He was asked whether Chalobah had played a bigger role than expected, given that he had jumped ahead of the likes of Benoit Badiashile and Tosin Adarabioyo in the pecking order since his return.

“No [he hasn’t played a bigger role than expected], because I know that he can help us. Unfortunately Wes Fofana is the other one that is out but for sure we were in no doubt that Trevoh was helping us.”

Chalobah impresses again – but future remains uncertain

Trevoh Chalobah embraces Tosin on his return to Chelsea. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

There’s no two ways about it, those in charge bungled this one. We all knew how good Trevoh is – he was our best defender after he came back from injury last season. Yet those in charge still pushed hard to sell, him and even loaned him when a permanent move wasn’t forthcoming.

Still, the important thing is that they figure out their mistake and rectified it in January.