£52m player’s Chelsea career could be over after win vs Fulham as Enzo Maresca makes brutal claim

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Chelsea returned to the top five of the Premier League with a big 2-1 win at Craven Cottage against West London rivals Fulham.

The Blues were tumbling towards another away defeat six minutes from time, before goals from Tyrique George and Pedro Neto gave the Blues a sensational first win on the road in 2025.

Enzo Maresca remained composed at full-time, however inside will have been buzzing with the fact that his side had secured a big win to ease the pressure on them in the race for Champions League football.

It was the attacking changes which were the catalyst to their success, with the manager bringing on George and Jadon Sancho in the second half to change the game.

The options were limited, with regular benchwarmer Christopher Nkunku nowhere to be seen in the first team squad.

Enzo Maresca confirms he dropped Christopher Nkunku from Chelsea squad vs Fulham

This is despite him starting against Legia Warsaw in the week, and playing the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 defeat at home.

While finding starts in the Premier League has been difficult for the Frenchman, there is perhaps not a better chance on paper than now following another underwhelming performance from Nicolas Jackson.

The original assumption was that Nkunku had suffered an injury, however Maresca confirmed that this was not the reason he was dropped from the squad.

The Italian told Football London that it was a ‘techincal decision’ as to why the attacker was not present in the squad at Craven Cottage.

His simple response of: “It was just a technical decision” gave more questions than answers, however it feels as if this is a worrying blow to a player whose future is looking more and more likely to be away from Stamford Bridge.

Christopher Nkunku’s Chelsea future

The forward has come in for plenty of criticism this season, with John Obi Mikel recently being scathing of Nkunku for his performances.

It was strongly reported that Nkunku could be on the move in January, however he stayed put as fellow attacker Joao Felix made his own move to AC Milan.

It looks as if the Blues will be pushing for his exit in the summer too, with Bayern Munich one of the sides who have been previously linked with bringing him back to the Bundesliga.

Being completely left out of the squad is a real blow for him at this stage, with his major involvements likely to only come in the Conference League for the rest of the campaign.