Enzo Maresca claims that Chelsea do not miss Joao Felix despite their ongoing striker crisis. The Portuguese forward completed a loan move to Italian giants AC Milan on the final day of the winter transfer window. His switch comes just months after the Blues spent £45m on him, while Felix signed a seven-year deal. But his time at Chelsea has been difficult thus far. The 25-year-old has scored just one Premier League goal so far this season and Chelsea boss Maresca appears to have given his most damning assessment yet.
He has claimed Chelsea still don’t need him despite fellow forwards Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu having picked up injuries. Maresca said: "I don't think we miss João. He's happy there [Milan] and we're happy that he's happy. "Two injuries on the last day of the transfer window. It's a tough one. Nico [Jackson] could be back soon. Sometimes I think we need to play a few games without certain players to realise their importance.”.
Maresca’s latest comments come just days after he broke rank to explain why Felix was allowed to leave Stamford Bridge. And he claimed it just boiled down to game time that he could offer the forward. "Nothing happened,” the Chelsea boss said. “As I said before, the players train every day and have the ambition to play every game, but unfortunately they can only play 11. “We decided, all together, that the best option was for him to leave. Did he ever complain about the lack of use? No, he never complained. He was always very professional with us.
Does Joao Felix have a future with Chelsea? Share your thoughts in the comments below. “It was just my decision. I've said it several times, we need to have defensive balance and when you have so many attacking players, sometimes you can concede transitions or goals to the opponents and I don't like that.". While Chelsea do not miss Felix, he has already enjoyed a dream start to life with AC Milan. He scored on his debut in a 3-1 win against Roma in the Coppa Italia and then started in the weekend’s 2-0 success against Empoli.
Felix will be hoping to stay in the starting line-up in midweek as Milan attempt to secure a spot in the Champions League last 16. The Italian side take on Feyenoord in the first-leg of their playoff clash on Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, Maresca’s Chelsea will be aiming to get back to winning ways next weekend. After losing to Brighton in the FA Cup, they once again take on the Seagulls next Friday, this time in the Premier League.
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