Club manager praises ‘fantastic’ Chelsea loanee as ‘game changer’ in win for his new side, Enzo Maresca didn’t give him a chance

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While Chelsea supporters were no doubt focused on their own important victory in the Premier League, some of their loanees were in action with varying degrees of success.

The Blues were happy to let Joao Felix leave the club temporarily in January, with him joining AC Milan in an attempt for Chelsea to get him some minutes and hopefully increase his stock for other sides.

This has not worked out as planned, with Felix being slammed by the media for his most recent performance off the bench as they fell to another defeat.

While Strasbourg and Andrey Santos and Djorde Petrovic picked up an important point in their push for European qualification, there was a positive result for Borussia Dortmund, who currently have Blues star Carney Chukwuemeka at their disposal.

Carney Chukwuemeka the ‘game changer’ for Borussia Dortmund in big win

The midfielder has impressed when given the opportunity for the Bundesliga side, with Chukwuemeka scoring a stunning goal to open his account for his loan side.

Dortmund would like to continue with Chukwuemeka beyond this season, however there are doubts over whether they will be about to pay the transfer fee needed to secure him on a permanent basis.

Their new manager, Niko Kovac has seemingly made it clear that the loanee is an important player for him right now, telling the official Bundesliga wesbite after the 3-2 win over Borussia Monchengladbach that he was the gamechanger for them.

He said: “When Carney came on, things turned around. Carney was the game changer for us. He’s fantastic on the ball, turns quickly, and attacks the last line. He’s getting better with every game.”

Enzo Maresca didn’t give Chukwuemeka a chance

Chukwuemeka made just one start for Chelsea this season, with that coming in a win over Astana where the majority of the first team squad were left at home due to the freezing conditions.

Chelsea were shocked Chukwuemeka didn’t leave in the summer, however the manager admitted he was back in contention for minutes off the back of staying at the club.

This didn’t happen however, and a move away was the only way that he was going to pick up any sort of minutes at a time of his career where playing time is essential.