‘I’m speaking with both’ – Maresca on reports of Chelsea ownership rift | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca says he does not want to waste energy worrying about Chelsea’s ownership saga ahead of Saturday night’s match against Bournemouth.

This week for Chelsea has been marred by the news surrounding an ownership rift between Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, with the two owners reportedly wanting to buy each other out after disagreements on how best to run the club.

Speaking in his press conference ahead of the weekend’s fixture, Maresca was adamant that he did not want the dispute between the co-owners to affect the team’s preparations.

Maresca said: “If I spend my energy about something different, I don’t think it’s worth it. My focus is just on tomorrow’s game, to be honest.

“In the last week, I’ve tried to do exactly the same; focusing on the way we want to prepare for the game, in the best way. The other things, they are things I cannot control.

“I spoke with Todd when we played City, more or less. I spoke with Behdad days ago. I’m speaking with both, there is not any problem at all.

“As I said, my focus is about the pitch because it is the only thing I can control.”

Chelsea have won just one of their first three games of the season and sit below their weekend’s opponents in the table, who are unbeaten so far.

The Chelsea boss does not know what the ownership solution is, but believes the team are heading in the right direction and hopes the off-field antics will not affect the players.

“I think the players are professional enough to understand these kinds of things, they are things we cannot control,” Maresca added.

“The main focus for me is exactly the main focus for the players, on the pitch, we need to do the things to improve and this is the main target for them, for me and for all of us.”

“I don’t know if something is going to happen, to be honest. I don’t have an idea. The only thing I can say is that in terms of the football side, we are in the right direction and the team is improving.

“I used the international break to review the games and these kind of things. I think the three Premier League games that we played, it’s true we conceded goals but it’s also true that we conceded the first shot on goal against Palace and that was the goal.

“Against City we did not concede many chances and that is very strange to not concede chances against City. Wolves, in the second-half, we don’t concede any shots. So I think we are in the right direction and this is the most important thing and the thing I can control.”

On the back of the transfer window closing, Maresca said he is pleased with his squad, praising what he has seen so far from Jadon Sancho and expressing his delight at Nicolas Jackson’s contract extension.

Maresca also praised Enzo Fernandez’ versatility in midfield, comparing his role to the likes of Declan Rice and Ilkay Gundogan.

He acknowledged that they had been unable to find moves for Carney Chukwuemeka and Ben Chilwell, and that he thinks they will now be re-integrated to train as part of Chelsea’s squad.

“We are going to sit with Ben and find a solution,” Maresca added. “He is probably going to be back with us in a training session, we will see, because right now he is not training with us.

“The reason why he is training apart is because the idea was for him to leave but because he didn’t find a solution, he is probably going to start to train with us.

“He is good. He is not training with us but I saw him this morning. He is okay.”

Maresca confirmed Malo Gusto is unavailable, while Romeo Lavia is close to returning but Reece James still needs more time.

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