Enzo Maresca hints that Chelsea fans hooked on transfers might get exactly what they want tonight | OneFootball

We football fans are simple folk – we like shiny new toys, and there’s nothing that gets the dopamine flowing like a new signing making his debut.

So even though our most recent purchase has only trained with us for a couple of days, there was inevitably a question to Enzo Maresca about whether he would play tonight.

Chelsea’s £60m attacker already training with an eye for debut

Joao Pedro with a Chelsea logo. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Joao Pedro was transferred from Brighton for something close to £60m on Monday, then rushed to the USA direct from his holiday in Brazil. Not the ideal preparation, but according to Maresca it doesn’t rule him out from a cameo against the attacker’s countrymen Palmeiras tonight:

“Yeah, Joao’s situation is a bit strange or different because as you know he was on holiday,” Maresca explained.

“Even though he was working out… it’s not the same when you work for yourself compared when you work with the team. But we are very happy with Joao[‘s condition]. In the last two days he worked with us and we’ll see if we need him tomorrow or we have chance to give him some minutes. We’re gonna give him some minutes,” the coach concluded.

Joao Pedro sounds likely to pick up short sub debut

Even just a short appearance off the bench would excite supporters. But there are plenty of other things to enjoy – Nicolas Jackson is ready to return to the team after suspension with a lot to prove, Liam Delap has only had a couple of starts and still has that shiny new toy essence to him.

There team selection will have plenty of interest in and of itself too, given it’s a preview of what direction Maresca’s thinking is going for the season ahead.