Managing Chelsea a disaster during January transfer noise, says Maresca

Enzo Maresca has said that managing Chelsea during the January transfer window is a “disaster” because of the unsettling effect it is having on his squad.

Maresca, whose side have dropped out of the top four after failing to win their last five Premier League games, has seen a number of his players linked with moves this month. Borussia Dortmund are targeting Carney Chukwuemeka and Renato Veiga; Axel Disasi, Tosin Adarabioyo, Ben Chilwell and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall could also depart, and Bayern Munich have held discussions over a move for Christopher Nkunku.

Chelsea have also been scouring the market for a winger – they have followed talks over Bayern’s Mathys Tel with enquiries about Dortmund’s Jamie Gittens and Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho – and Maresca was blunt when he was asked how he is finding January.

“A disaster,” the Italian said. “It is normal that you judge the results because the business is a business where you judge the results. But I’m happy with the performances, I’m happy because we create and we play. On the pitch, I would like to win more games but I’m OK. Off the pitch it is a disaster because of so many noises that don’t help us. I don’t think they help any club.

“It’s not just for us, it’s for every club and every manager. In this moment, whenever there is any noise about any player, it is not easy because even if you think the player can be focused on us, in the end he is a human being. If there is any noise about another club then he is probably not focused 100%. But we need to adapt because it is like this.”

Chelsea have considered signing a centre-back, with Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi a target. Instead of ramping up their interest in Guéhi, though, they have recalled Trevoh Chalobah from his season-long loan at Palace.

“We have a few injuries so we were looking for solutions,” Maresca said. “We thought probably the best solution was to call back Trev. We know him very well and we are sure he can help us. He was very happy; I can see it in his face. I had a chat with him a few days ago.”

skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Football Daily Free daily newsletter Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion

Maresca said that an ankle injury could keep Cole Palmer out when Chelsea host Wolves on Monday. Levi Colwill (knock), Enzo Fernández and Roméo Lavia (fatigue) also missed training on Friday.

Click here to read article