Benoit Badiashile has singled out one Chelsea teammate for big praise after the team recorded its first win of pre-season.
Chelsea took a positive step forward on Thursday by beating Club America 3-0 in a friendly match. While some may see it as just another 90 minutes to build up fitness, there were definite signs that the players are really buying into the philosophy of new head coach Enzo Maresca.
Next, the Blues face Manchester City and Real Madrid in their final two games of the pre-season tour in the United States.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Filip Jorgensen made their unofficial debuts in Thursday’s victory. Speaking after the game via Football.London, Maresca shared his instruction for Dewsbury-Hall, which he gave the midfielder on his first appearance.
Benoit Badiashile thrilled to play with Christopher Nkunku
Chelsea centre-back Benoit Badiashile, 23, raved about teammate Christopher Nkunku straight after this week’s win over Club America.
For £52m star (BBC) Nkunku, he made it three goals in three games so far during pre-season by scoring a penalty kick on Thursday. The Frenchman certainly appears to be enjoying his role as an advanced midfielder, where he’s working centrally between No 8 and No 10 positions.
“Christopher is a good player and he showed today again that he is a good player and I am so happy he is with us,” Badiashile said, as quoted by Chelsea’s official website.
Premier League should watch out for Christopher Nkunku
Nkunku’s first year in English football was wrecked last season by injury, playing just 14 games across all competitions during a stop-start debut campaign with Chelsea. However, there’s no doubt he can be a special player for the Blues if he can stay fit.
The 26-year-old has the kind of extra quality on the ball when attacking that was missing for large parts of last year, aside from Cole Palmer. He produced one magical dribble through defenders this week that was very much a throwback to what fans used to see from Eden Hazard.
Nkunku’s wonderful contribution in the latest pre-season game showed signs that his fitness is improving and that he can be a major threat in the upcoming months. During his post-match press conference, Maresca called Nkunku a “very good fit” for him, as cited by Ben Jacobs on X.
FotMob data recorded Nkunku as the player of the match against Club America and highlighted a superb individual display:
- Match rating – 8.7
- Minutes played – 83
- Goals – 1
- Total shots – 3
- Shots on target – 3/3 (100%)
- Chances created – 2
- Accurate passes – 36/42 (86%)
- Touches in opposition box – 6
- Successful dribbles – 2/3 (67%)
- Was fouled – 3
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