Enzo Maresca tells £31m Graham Potter signing what he must do to save Chelsea career amid mass clear-out

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has admitted he’s a fan of forward Noni Madueke and wants him to stay at the club this summer. However, he warned that Madueke will only get minutes if he trains well and dedicates himself fully.

Madueke was signed by Graham Potter for a reported £31 million two seasons ago, but his long-term future has been uncertain in recent weeks, especially following the arrivals of Pedro Neto and Joao Felix, who can both play out wide and through the middle.

Not even Madueke’s seven-year contract would be enough to guarantee his place, as Raheem Sterling, Trevoh Chalobah, and Ben Chilwell have discovered lately, having been left out of the first-team training squad and told to find solutions.

However, Madueke made his case in the 2-0 win against Servette, looking menacing every time he was on the ball and finishing brilliantly to secure Chelsea’s victory.

When asked if he wanted to keep the England under-21 star, Maresca said, "I really like Noni. The only problem with him is that he needs to understand he must be consistent during the week; every training, every training, every training. But he is a good player and he is doing well with us."

Pressed on whether he was definitely keeping Madueke, the Chelsea manager added, "Yeah, absolutely. The reality is, while the transfer window is open, anything can happen. But for sure, Noni is the type of player I like."

Maresca is currently training with just 24 players, but a long list of players, including Romelu Lukaku, Kepa Arrizabalaga, and Trevoh Chalobah, are training with a separate group as they await their summer moves.

The vision of the owners is to build a team that can sustain itself, and they have already reduced the wage bill from being one of the top five in the country to one of the top ten.