Mauricio Pochettino can’t drop £26m Chelsea player again after what happened against Newcastle

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Malo Gusto made the kind of performance off Chelsea’s bench this week that should send out a big message to his manager.

Chelsea beat Newcastle United in dramatic fashion on Tuesday night, winning in a penalty shootout to reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals. It needed a late equalising goal from Mykhailo Mudryk to level the cup tie at 1-1 and send it to penalties, though.

Blues head coach Mauricio Pochettino ended up using five substitutes in the Newcastle fixture. Aside from goalscorer Mudryk, our pick of the bunch was Malo Gusto for a superb second-half performance.

Gusto entered the action at half-time and put in the kind of display that should make it impossible for Pochettino to drop him again anytime soon. We certainly hope he’s bumped into the starting line-up for the Premier League fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Christmas Eve.

Huge Chelsea impact

Gusto, who’s only aged 20, really caught the eye versus Newcastle for the right reasons.

The £26million star (Sky Sports) immediately gave his side the kind of balance that didn’t exist when they started with four centre-halves in a back four.

He’s an attack-minded right-back with so much quality, but he showed his versatility by filling in at left-back before moving over to his preferred full-back role later on.

Chelsea started with Axel Disasi and Levi Colwill at full-back, but both are centre-backs by trade that don’t excite you when they step over the halfway line. It’s the complete opposite with Gusto, though.

Malo Gusto needs to start for Chelsea

We think it’s a no-brainer for Gusto to be in Chelsea’s line-up right now, especially while Reece James is out injured.

Gusto, whose cross led to the Blues goal against Newcastle, brings balance to the XI when he’s starting at full-back.

The French youngster is certainly capable when he pushes forward of creating chances and putting a decent cross in. He’s not shy to go past a man as well.

In fairness, we really like what we see from him when it comes to his aggressive defensive actions too.

Journalist Ben Jacobs claimed via Substack this week that there’s no truth in rumours that Chelsea could get rid of Gusto. We consider him a really important player for us moving forward, who’s only going to get better during this first season at Stamford Bridge.