Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is currently desperate to find an answer to the conundrum of ‘who is best off playing in the striker position for the next few weeks?’.
It was reported recently that Nicolas Jackson is set to miss somewhere between six and eight weeks of action after a scan revealed his issue was worse than first thought.
The manager actually believed the Senegal international could feature in their upcoming game against Brighton in the Premier League, however that is clearly not possible.
Enzo Maresca gives blunt answer to if he’ll play Deivid Washington after Nicolas Jackson’s injury
Spaniard Marc Guiu is also set to miss the rest of this month, leaving not a single first team option to play up front as their natural position.
Maresca would have to drop down to the youth team to find the next available striker, with one of those being Deivid Washington.
Many have expected the youngster to make the move to Brazil to play for Santos, and even though Chelsea’s transfer window is closed, Brazil’s remains open.
It looks as if that deal is still a priority to get done. Maresca stated that he was not considering Washington as an option as he was in talks with another club.
He said to Kieran Gill: “No. He is in talks.”
Washington is currently away from the club anyway, representing his nation at the Under 20 South American championship.
Chelsea’s most likely striker solution
It looks as if Christopher Nkunku is going to be handed the responsibility of starting up top for the Blues in this weekend’s game against Brighton, with revenge very much on the menu.
The Blues failed to impress just days ago at the Amex in the FA Cup. Nkunku in particular looked a shell of the player who was outscoring most of Europe just a few years ago.
If Maresca wanted to look to his academy, he should consider giving Shim Mheuka a chance to feature after excellent progress made at Cobham.
The 17-year-old has a variety of supporters in the first team squad, and has already made his debut in the Conference League.
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