Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has admitted that he’s “unfairly” treated one of his players this season amid reports linking him with a move elsewhere.
The Blues battled back from behind to beat London rivals West Ham 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.
Jarrod Bowen fired the Hammers in front shortly before the interval before Pedro Neto’s leveller and own goal by Aaron Wan-Bissaka turned the game around.
Chelsea produced a sub-par performance but did enough to salvage a victory as Maresca rang the changes in forward areas to alter the game’s trajectory.
Nkunku impressed off the bench after he was heavily linked with Manchester United and Bayern Munich during the January transfer window.
The Frenchman missed out on the move and could have a big role to play for Chelsea during the run-in. Maresca admits he has unfairly treated the attacker.
“Christo, since day one, has been very good, very professional,” Maresca told Sky Sports.
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“Probably in some moments, I have been unfair with him because probably he deserves something more.
“But hopefully from now on he can help us a little bit more.”
He added: “First of all, very happy because [the transfer window] is closed. So the ones that are here are the ones that are going to be with us until the end and this is the main reason why I’m happy.
“And then the ones that left, we were all agreed that they could go.
“I was just focused on the game. I’m still thinking about the game.
“The sporting director and the chairman, we will sit and we see all the things that happen. But everything that happened was planned, from me, from the club, from all together.”
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Maresca also identified where Chelsea “needs to improve” in the coming months.
“It is huge [result]. It was a tough game especially mentally. It is never easy when teams come here and wait and sit back. You need to be patient. There is no space, you need to move the ball and wait for the right moment,” Maresca continued.
“In the second half we came back and overall we deserved to win the game. They were waiting for our mistakes and you can’t get frustrated.
“It already happened many times this season that we were losing and came back and won. It is just football. It just depends on the game.
“It is always about the players. It is not about the manager. It was just a feeling we had [over the substitutions] during the game. I think we need to improve in the final third in terms of chances and being more clinical.”
