Chelsea: Enzo Maresca reacts to Liam Delap debut as Nicolas Jackson striker battle begins

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·16 juin 2025

Chelsea: Enzo Maresca reacts to Liam Delap debut as Nicolas Jackson striker battle begins

Blues boss encouraged by new £30million signing’s instant impact as familiarity with system pays off already

Your matchday briefing on Chelsea, featuring team news and expert analysis from Malik Ouzia

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Enzo Maresca was pleased with the Chelsea debuts of Liam Delap and Dario Essugo as his side opened their Club World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over LAFC.

The Blues boss initially named both players - along with fellow new signing Mamadou Sarr and returning loanee Andrey Santos - on the bench for Monday night’s Group D curtain-raiser in Atlanta, before introducing them in the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Delap - the £30million arrival from Ipswich - matched the man he replaced and his rival for the starting striker role, Nicolas Jackson, by assisting Enzo Fernandez’s crucial second goal for Chelsea late on, while the £18.8m midfield recruit from Sporting, Essugo, also had some bright moments despite only getting six minutes at the end of the game in place of Moises Caicedo.

Maresca declared himself impressed by the impact of both new signings, hailing Delap’s ability to get up to speed very quickly having previously been coached by the Italian during his youth career at Manchester City, where he played alongside the likes of Cole Palmer and Romeo Lavia.

“Very good result,” Maresca told DAZN. “At this stage of the season it is also normal that you have to manage different kinds of things. Overall the performance has been good.

"We have to recover. We have a game in three days [against Flamengo in Philadelphia], so we will see. We are going to prepare in the best way and for sure try to win.

"The good thing about Liam is he knows the way we want to play so the process is quite quick. Also we gave a chance to Dario Essugo which is another player we have, so it's good for both of them."

Jackson also impressed for Chelsea against LAFC, providing a fine through ball for Pedro Neto’s opening goal in the first half.

A proper striker battle between the Senegal international and Delap would be a welcome headache for Maresca, who at times has had to deploy false nines this season when lone frontman Jackson was either injured or suspended.

“Yes, very pleased,” Maresca said of the brewing battle up front, per BBC Sport. “I am curious to see how Nico reacts (to Delap). He competed with [Marc] Guiu who is very young during the season. They are both good No9s.”