Maresca sends very serious message to regular starter; transfer could follow | OneFootball

Nicolas Jackson has missed Chelsea’s last two games thanks to a suspension for a red card in the second group game of the Club World Cup. We thought he would return to the team tonight.

Not only is Jackson fresher, he’s also potentially sharper. His replacement Liam Delap didn’t pull up trees against Tunis or Benfica for large stretches, and it felt likely the pair would be swapped back.

Sub call confirms bad news for Jackson

When Delap started, most took it as a pleasing display of faith in the new man from Enzo Maresca. But when it was Joao Pedro – who has had basically one full day of training with the squad – who came on to replace Delap in the second half, people really sat up and took notice.

Maresca always favours giving players a lot bedding in period. Picking the new guy over Jackson – who’s been working with the manager for a year – felt very pointed.

Jackson future suddenly in doubt after eyebrow raising decisions from Maresca

Enzo Maresca on the touchline against Palmeiras. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

We shouldn’t jump to conclusions – perhaps there’s a tactical or fitness reason we don’t know about which has

But the overwhelmingly most likely truth seems to be that Maresca isn’t happy with him after

Of course the manager defended his forward once again after the Benfica game, but he was bound to do that. We really though Jackson would start tonight, the fact he’s not

Perhaps this is a one off punishment rather than a signal of a long term shift in the manager’s thinking. But either way it’s a huge statement.

Perhaps we will now see the Senegal star moving swiftly towards the exit? It certainly isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. David Ornstein said just a few days ago there was “some noise” about his future, and we’d expect that noise to get a lot louder now.