John Terry names Chelsea's 3 best players this season with surprise omission of ever-present star

Chelsea’s season under Enzo Maresca has taken a slight dip after it looked almost certain that they were guaranteed a Champions League spot in the first half of the year.

The Blues have lost four of their last six games, and are now fifth in the Premier League title, fully embroiled in what will be a tight battle for the Champions League places come the end of the season.

They have seen recent injuries to key players such as Nicolas Jackson and Romeo Lavia which hasn’t helped the Chelsea boss, star player Cole Palmer hasn’t scored a goal since mid-January when he netted against Bournemouth.

Terry names 3 best Chelsea players under Maresca

Former Chelsea defender John Terry has chosen his three best Chelsea players this season, and he was quick to dismiss the drop in form of attacker Palmer. The England international has scored 14 goals and provided six assists for the Blues this season, and has emerged as one of the best players in the league this year.

Terry quickly included the former Man City starlet in his best performers. He told DR Sports: “ Well, Cole (Palmer) sticks out straight away and I think Enzo (Fernandez) has been very good.”

Fernandez started the season spending much of his time on the bench. However, he worked his way into Maresca’s starting XI and has since become a key part of the Blues’ midfield.

The Argentina international has made 31 appearances this season, scoring four goals and providing eight assists for the Blues.

The other player who Terry picked was England winger Noni Madueke, but he gave a special mention to summer signing Pedro Neto. “Noni (Madueke), I think, has done well this year,” he said, “he’s done a lot better and been really direct. I like (Pedro) Neto as well.”

However, looking at the top three highest-rated Chelsea players on Whoscored.com, Terry picked just one. Palmer is the top-rated Blues player this season with an average match rating of 7.43/10.

But, Nicolas Jackson and Moises Caicedo are the next two players on the list, both of which Terry failed to mention during his interview. The latter has become a world-class midfielder this season under Maresca, making 30 appearances.

Caicedo attracts praise from Arsenal star

Terry didn’t single out Caicedo as a stand-out performer for Chelsea this season, but Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice did praise the former Brighton man, as he has played against him on multiple occasions. Caicedo has started every game for the Blues in the Premier League so fare this season.

Rice told Sky Sports Premier League earlier in the season: “With Moisés, I've been playing against him since he was at Brighton, had some really tough battles then, and I always knew and see what a good player he was. And I think this season, now, after last season, people said last year, okay, he wasn't the best, and it took him time to settle.

“But I think towards the back end of the season, his form was so strong. This season as well, he's been unbelievable and showing now what he's been doing at Brighton.

“So I think for sure, he's another player who's handled the price tag now really well, because to play for a club that Chelsea is obviously real big pressure. So, yeah, fair play him as well."

Rice had a similar pressure when he moved to Arsenal due to the high price tag of £105m. As Caicedo joined Chelsea for a fee of £115m, he had a lot of pressure on him to live up to the hefty fee that the Blues paid.

For your next Chelsea read, the Blues are set to compete with Leeds United to sign a Premier League goalkeeper in the summer.