"I didn't give him enough minutes" – Maresca drops major hint about plans for talented youngster

01/04/2025 04:00 AM

Enzo Maresca is hopeful he will be able to give Marc Guiu some minutes in the Premier League soon after impressing in the Conference League.

Chelsea signed the 19-year-old in the summer after they activated the €6m release clause in his Barcelona contract, with the Blues very much viewing Guiu as a great opportunity in the market.

The teenager came through the ranks of Barcelona's famous La Masia academy, and you can see he's got the attributes to become a top striker.

Maresca hopeful of giving Guiu more minutes

As expected minutes have been limited for Guiu given he's competing with the far more established Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku.

However, the Conference League has provided Guiu with a platform to show what he can do and the striker has impressed in the competition.

Guiu has appeared in all six of the league phase games, starting four and he's scored six goals, including a hat-trick against Shamrock Rovers.

Joe Cole believes Guiu can go to the top of the game and he's certainly got some impressive attributes, but he's still got a lot of developing to do.

The next step will be to try and get more minutes in the Premier League given he's only featured once and that was on the opening day of the season.

That could change and Maresca has stated he's hopeful of being able to give Guiu more minutes, whilst acknowledging he's not given the striker enough minutes in the league.

"We have a young striker in Marc Guiu, who is doing very good in the Conference League," he said as cited on X.com.

"I didn't give him enough minutes in the Premier League to prove it. Hopefully we can start to give him some minutes very soon."

Given Christopher Nkunku doesn't appear to be the answer at number nine and with the club unlikely to sign a striker this month it makes sense for Guiu to be given an opportunity and hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.