Enzo Maresca shares what he made clear to Alejandro Garnacho ‘immediately’ after joining Chelsea

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Alejandro Garnacho has begun to turn a corner in his personal career since making the move to Chelsea over the summer.

Chelsea fans were not keen on signing Garnacho, however the Argentine is beginning to show why the Blues were obsessed with bringing him in over the summer.

Garnacho has impressed John Obi Mikel with his recent performances too, something which has not proven easy due to the former midfielder’s high standards of the club and its players.

The winger hardly featured in the months leading up to his move to Stamford Bridge, and it certainly has taken some time to get up to speed.

Enzo Maresca has warned Alejandro Garnacho he must work hard off the ball at Chelsea

He switched off at the back post when Brentford scored a late equaliser against the Blues, and this is a key feature of what Enzo Maresca has been asking of his new signing since he joined.

The boss has stated that he is insistent Garnacho is working just as hard off the ball as he does on it in order to thrive like fellow winger Pedro Neto has in West London.

He said: “He’s doing well. He’s doing well with us since he joined on the ball and off the ball. He understood immediately with us that if he doesn’t work properly off the ball, he’s going to struggle to play games because we are in a moment, as I said at the beginning, where you need all the players working hard on the ball and off the ball.

“And he’s doing very good in terms of wingers, him, Pedro Neto, they are doing well on the ball and off the ball.”

Garnacho has chance to build on what Jadon Sancho started at Chelsea

Garnacho being signed as an opportunistic addition by the Blues is not too dissimilar to them bringing in Jadon Sancho, also from Manchester United, 12 months earlier.

Sancho originally impressed Maresca, but as time went on it was determined that Chelsea would not be signing him permanently.

The 21-year-old now has a chance to build on a very strong foundation laid with the manager, and nail down the left-wing spot that is up for grabs at Stamford Bridge.

Jamie Gittens, who was also signed in the summer, has not grabbed the shirt for himself so far, but Garnacho’s recent performances have suggested he could be about to do so himself.