Only Nkunku has a lower rating – future unclear for struggling Chelsea star | OneFootball

Chelsea put in a solid showing against Djurgarden on Thursday night, and there were plenty of positives to talk about – not least the debut for 16 year old Reggie Walsh, and the wave of academy players who came on in the game.

It was a pretty easy run to the finish line, let’s face it. But the fact the opposition were so weak only made the bad performance from one player stand out more.

Chelsea’s underperformer continues to struggle in tricky second season

Malo Gusto with an Enzo Maresca inlay. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

Malo Gusto looked like the best signing that Chelsea’s news owners had made for a while at the start of his first season at the club. He was dynamic and dangerous and looked like a real bargain.

But his second year has been really rough, and Thursday night’s game was another rough outing. Earlier in the campaign we were happy to blame Enzo Maresca for tactics that didn’t play to Gusto’s strengths, and for using him out of position so often, but there’s quite clearly something else going on.

At times he struggles to even connect with his passes, and there were academy teenagers out there looking more calm and effective than the France international at times.

Only Nkunku has worse rating than struggling Gusto

The stats on WhoScored back up what we’re seeing – there’s only one player in the squad who has played more than 5 games who has a lower average rating. That would be Christopher Nkunku, who has basically already checked out.

We expect Gusto to stick around. He’s still only 21, and has plenty of time to develop and improve. His versatility is also undeniably useful, especially in a B team where we’re always trying to shift things around to manage the minutes of the first team.

But we’d be lying if we said we weren’t worried about his long term potential now.