Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has revealed he warned striker Marc Guiu over his poor performances in training earlier this month.
The 19-year-old had a season-long loan move to Sunderland cancelled after just three appearances at the end of the summer transfer window as the Blues sought to reshuffle their squad in the wake of Liam Delap’s hamstring injury.
However, Guiu did not play for a month until a late cameo against Liverpool prior to this month’s international break.
The Spanish forward then scored his first goal of the season in Chelsea’s 5-1 Champions League thrashing of Ajax on Wednesday.
Marc Guiu was told his training performances were not good enough by Enzo Maresca. Joris Verwijst/BSR Agency/Getty Images
And ahead of Saturday’s visit of Sunderland to Stamford Bridge, Maresca said: “We had a chat with Marc two weeks ago. I told him the way he was training, I didn’t like and he needs to change.
“He changed and he gets a chance. It is like that. He was not training well, in all the ways.”
Asked why that was the case, Maresca continued: “I don’t know. That’s why young [players], they are sometimes, they are in one way, the other way, so you need to go slowly, slowly with them.
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“Since we chat, he is top, fantastic, working very good, absolutely yes, he is ready to start.
“Marc is a typical number nine, physically strong, a box player. He can improve and do many things better and we are working with him every day trying to help him and as I said already many times, he is going to play games with us.”
Guiu has previously spoken about the difficulty in joining Sunderland only to suddenly return to London.
“It was all a bit chaotic, but in the end, I’m a person who faces everything with the utmost positivity, and that’s how I faced it, now enjoying every moment, because a footballer’s career is short,” he told Spanish outlet RTVE earlier this month.
Liam Delap has been out since August when sustaining a hamstring injury against Fulham. Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
Speculation persists that Guiu could return to the Stadium of Light in January, although Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris appeared to play down that prospect on Friday when telling reporters: “At the minute we have good strikers and we don’t need anything.”
Asked about the possibility of Guiu leaving in January, Maresca said: “We are in October. I don’t know, also because in football things can change very quick for everyone — for players, for managers, for everyone –so it is very difficult to say.”
Saturday’s game will come too soon for Delap but he returned to full training this week and Maresca suggested there is a possibility the £30million summer signing from Ipswich Town could feature in next Wednesday’s EFL Cup tie at Wolves.
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