"He was always a maverick" – Ex-Chelsea star opens up on playing with Enzo Maresca during Blues boss' playing career
Former Chelsea midfielder Andrew Townsend has opened up on the kind of player Blues manager Enzo Maresca was during his career.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Townsend recalled the time he shared the same dressing room with Maresca at West Bromwich Albion between 1999 and 2000. He said (h/t The Chelsea Chronicle):
"Enzo was a young kid at West Brom when I was finishing [as] a player. He was always a maverick kind of footballer. He was a gifted player, went off to Spain and did very well at Sevilla, and [in] his managerial career, he has shown great promise."
Maresca, who recently penned a contract until June 2029 at the Blues, started his playing career at West Brom in 1998. He played in 51 games for them ahead of his stint at Juventus between 2000 and 2004.
After registering six goals and 10 assists in 58 games for Juventus, Maresca joined Fiorentina in 2004. Afterwards, he joined Sevilla and helped them win five trophies between 2005 and 2009. The former midfielder recorded 21 goals and nine assists in 138 outings across competitions for the La Liga outfit before joining Olympiacos.
Maresca, who lifted the Serie A title in 2002, plied his trade at Malaga, Sampdoria, Palermo, and Hellas Verona after departing Olympiacos. He hung up his boots in 2017 after terminating his contract at Hellas.
Before joining Chelsea as their new boss, Maresca relished a fine time at Leicester City. He helped them lift the EFL Championship trophy in the 2023-24 season and guided them to 36 wins in 53 overall outings.
Chelsea aiming to offload goalkeeper
In his Daily Briefing column for Caught Offside, journalist Fabrizio Romano insisted that Chelsea are keen to offload Djordje Petrovic after signing Villarreal goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen. He wrote:
"Jorgensen was also wanted by Marseille and Saudi clubs this summer, Inter Milan also considered him, but he's going to Chelsea – deal done for £21 million, with the [player] joining on a deal until 2031. He is now expected to be competition for Robert Sanchez, while the expectation is that Djorde Petrovic will leave. Petrovic wanted to stay, but they have decided to go with a different strategy."
Jorgensen, 22, enjoyed a breakout season at Villarreal past campaign, registering six clean sheets in 37 appearances across competitions.
Petrovic, on the other hand, recorded seven clean sheets in 31 outings across all competitions for the Blues in the recently concluded season.