Maresca gives update on Caicedo injury; names another player hurt in training | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has just taken his press conference after Chelsea’s win over Fluminense in the Club World Cup semi finals, and as you’d expect, it was all rather positive.

Maresca on new players and qualification for the final

Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto after the former’s superb goal.

First on Maresca’s agenda was striker Joao Pedro, who followed a great cameo in the last round with two goals tonight. As you can imagine, Maresca was delighted with his new £60m man:

“I’m very happy for Joao. We know he is a good player against teams that defend deep. Another thing that is important is he was on holiday, so he was fresher than the rest. It’s important to be aware of that.

“We are very happy, very proud to play the final on Sunday. The reason why is because this is the first edition of the Club World Cup. The best clubs in the world are here. We are proud.”

Enzo on bad Caicedo ankle news

There was some bad news from the game – as we noted earlier, in the final minutes of the match Moises Caicedo rolled his ankle horrifically. He was able to play on (given there were no subs remaining and only a minute left in the game) but it looked a really sore one and we’d imagine there’s a major chance it’s swollen up terribly, making him a doubt for the final on Sunday.

Enzo Maresca was asked about this, and unfortunately even added further bad injury news to the equation with work of a problem for Dario Essugo, Caicedo’s most natural understudy in the squad:

“Dario [Essugo] had a muscle problem yesterday during the session. He will probably be ready for next season. Moi twisted his ankle. He felt he could try even though I told him we could play with 10 players. He felt pain. So hopefully he can be fit for Sunday.”