Enzo Maresca delivers honest transfer verdict on Chelsea summer signing

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has told summer signing Liam Delap to “be patient” following a lengthy goal drought since his arrival at the club.

The 22-year-old joined Chelsea from Ipswich Town for a transfer fee of €35.5 million in June, after an excellent debut season at Portman Road, with the Blues fighting off significant competition from Manchester United to secure his signature.

Delap scored his first Chelsea goal during their 3-0 win over ES Tunis at the Club World Cup this summer, but that remains the only time he has found the back of the net in a competitive fixture for the west London outfit.

The England striker notably suffered a hamstring injury against Fulham in late August, while he marked his return to full fitness with a red card during a substitute appearance versus Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup last month.

However, in total, Delap has scored just once in 13 competitive matches for Chelsea and he endured another tough afternoon against Burnley on Saturday.

The 22-year-old was unable to find the back of the net at Turf Moor, while fellow centre forward Marc Guiu produced a magnificent assist for Enzo Fernandez following his introduction in the latter stages of the second-half.

Meanwhile, Joao Pedro continues to be an integral member of the Chelsea first-team squad and with Guiu impressing in his cameo appearance on Saturday, Delap could well find himself demoted to the substitutes bench for crucial clashes versus Barcelona and Arsenal next week.

Enzo Maresca on Liam Delap

Despite a 10-game goalless run, Delap received the full backing of Maresca following Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Burnley.

During his post-match press conference, Maresca told reporters: “He has to be patient because there is no doubt the goal will arrive.

“The way he worked against Burnley was very good. Liam is also the kind of striker that as a defender you are worried about when he is around you.”

When asked about the mix of players who have scored for Chelsea so far this season, Maresca added: “We work on some patterns to create goalscoring opportunities. And I prefer the five players at the front to score 10, 12 goals each than to have a striker that scores 40 goals. Of course if you have one of those, you are happy as well!

“But I like the wingers scoring goals and getting assists, like Jamie [Gittens] did, Enzo arriving inside the box to score, Malo [Gusto] the other day arriving inside the box to score.”

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