Chelsea are expected to announce the appointment of Enzo Maresca as their new manager within the next few days.
Many were surprised to see Enzo Maresca win the race to become the next Blues boss but he has an excellent reputation within the game.
The Italian worked closely with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City before leading Leicester City to the 2023-24 Championship title.
His style of play is similar to Guardiola’s in that a huge emphasis is placed on possession, which should suit the majority of Chelsea’s current first-team squad.
However, there are a handful of players who could struggle to adapt to Maresca’s demands, such as Champions League winner Ben Chilwell.
Ben Chilwell
Assuming that Maresca opts for the same system he employed with Leicester, the left-back in his Chelsea team will be inverted.
The Italian often picked James Justin or Wout Faes in this position as they are comfortable moving into central areas, unlike a traditional full-back who stays wide.
This is the polar opposite of Chilwell’s instinct, which is to attack down the wing and cross the ball into the box.
This could cast the Englishman’s future into doubt, as he probably lacks the defensive attributes and technical ability to play as Maresca desires.
Ian Maatsen
Ian Maatsen enjoyed a fantastic loan spell at Borussia Dortmund in the second half of the 2023-24 season.
Despite being surplus to Mauricio Pochettino’s requirements at Chelsea, the 22-year-old proved that he can cut it at the highest level.
Maatsen was crucial to Dortmund’s magical Champions League run that culminated in a 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the final on Saturday night.
Like Chilwell, however, he is more suited to taking up wide positions, rather than acting as another central defender.
Axel Disasi
With the imminent signing of Tosin Adarabioyo, Chelsea have an excess of central defenders.
Thiago Silva has already left the club, but Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill, Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile all remain.
Chalobah is expected to be sold this summer as because he is an academy product, the entirety of the fee received for him would go down as profit in the books.
However, the centre-back that Chelsea should be selling is Disasi, who is by no means a bad player, but one that does not suit Maresca’s style of play.
The Frenchman is the least comfortable on the ball of the aforementioned players and would make the most sense to put up for sale.
Djordje Petrovic
Djordje Petrovic made an impressive start to life at Stamford Bridge, overtaking Robert Sanchez in the goalkeeping pecking order.
The Serbian played 31 times in all competitions and, besides a few mistakes, won over the Blues faithful with consistently good performances.
An issue that he could face under Maresca, though, is that much more will be asked of him in terms of playing out from the back.
This is not an area of strength for Petrovic, who is accustomed to being a traditional goalkeeper rather than a ‘sweeper keeper’.
Robert Sanchez
Sanchez will encounter the same problem as Petrovic, albeit he is also less capable with his hands.
The former Brighton man struggled in between the sticks at the start of the season before missing most of the remainder through injury.
There is a real possibility that he will leave the West London club this summer because he is already second choice behind Petrovic, and it seems a foregone conclusion that a new goalkeeper will be signed in the coming months.
Villarreal’s Filip Jorgensen and Las Palmas’ Alvaro Valles are among those to have been linked with a summer move to the Blues.