Chelsea Boss Enzo Maresca Backs Nicolas Jackson to Lead Side's Attacking Line Ahead of West Ham Clash

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca threw his weight behind Senegalese striker Nicolas Jackson as his side’s first-choice striker despite Christopher Nkunku finding the back of the net against Bournemouth off the bench in the Blues’ previous Premier League encounter.

Jackson, who netted 19 times for the London-based club last year in his debut season, has struck twice in the ongoing PL campaign.

Ahead of Chelsea’s trip to London rivals West Ham on Saturday, Maresca backed the 23-year-old striker to be his side’s number nine.

“For me, in this moment, Nicolas is our striker, I don’t have any doubt,” Maresca said at the pre-match presser.

“Because of the way he is working day by day and the way he is working on the ball and off the ball,” the 44-year-old added.

“In this moment, we are very happy with Nicolas. In terms of numbers, last season and this season, it’s already important numbers,” he said.

Maresca has had to deal with a swathe of issues since taking over the London Club following the departure of Mauricio Pochettino including a chaotic transfer window with multiple incoming and outgoing transfers, and a reported incident of infighting between co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali amongst other predicaments.

However, Maresca opined that Nkunku, who has netted thrice in his six outings under the Italian boss, will get his moment to shine.

“As a left winger, we have Jadon (Sancho) and Misha (Mykhailo Mudryk). As right-wingers, we have Noni (Madueke) and Pedro (Neto). As attacking midfielder, we have Cole (Palmer) and Joao (Felix). As a nine, we have Nkunku and Nico,” Maresca said.

“There are not so many players, we have two players in each position,” he explained.

Chelsea have lost just one game in the PL so far, against champions Manchester City, and stand 8th on the table with 7 points from 4 games thanks to 2 wins, a draw and a loss.

They also managed to get the better of Swiss club Servette FC to seal their berth in the Group Stage of the UEFA Conference League, and Maresca opined that the side are ahead of where he imagined them to be at the moment.

“We are ahead of where I expected, to be honest,” added Maresca.

“Since I have started, the players have been open-minded and they are taking in all of the information,” he said.

Chelsea take on West Ham at 5:00 PM on Saturday at the London Stadium in their next Premier League assignment.