Nkunku reveals what Maresca told him before Bournemouth heroics.
Christopher Nkunku was Chelsea’s saviour last weekend in what was a nail-biting affair against Bournemouth in the Premier League.
The Frenchman came off the bench to score an 86th-minute goal and save his side’s blushes, also handing new signing Jadon Sancho his first assist on debut.
After the game, he revealed what Enzo Maresca told him before sending him onto the pitch.
After winning the game for his side, Christopher Nkunku revealed that his manager, Enzo Maresca, asked him for more “quality” as he sent him on in the second half.
“He just said that we need quality in the box and we have ten minutes left so he said for me to enjoy.
“It was good from Jadon [Sancho]. I felt like I had the space behind me, so I turned and I was a little bit lucky because I had three defenders there, but I scored.”
Nkunku, as quoted by Chelsea’s in-house media team.
Nkunku had a debut season to forget last after he completed his £52m move from Leipzig, as an injury-ridden campaign saw him make just 14 appearances, in which he scored three goals.
This season, the 26-year-old has started in promising fashion, with three goals from his first six appearances.
Nkunku has in place at Chelsea a £195k-per-week contract set to run until June 2029.
It’s been all smiles after the full-time whistle for the Blues, but it must not be forgotten that this was once again a challenging outing for them against a side arguably of an equal footing at this point; things could have been a lot worse.
Chelsea need to do better. A lot better. Games like last week’s will come up over the course of the season very frequently, and the results won’t always end up in their favour, not unless Chelsea click together. Maresca is willing to give it a good go, but one can assume a not-too-high ceiling to what he can do given what’s going on at the club.
On the pitch, Maresca needs all hands on deck, and Nkunku’s availability throughout the season will be crucial for his and Chelsea’s results.
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