Tribal Football

'I'm not thinking at all about next year' - Maresca hints at Jadon Sancho future

Alex Roberts
'I'm not thinking at all about next year' - Maresca hints at Jadon Sancho future
'I'm not thinking at all about next year' - Maresca hints at Jadon Sancho futurePaul Phelan/ProSports/Shuttersto / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has admitted he's 'not thinking about next year' when asked about the future of on loan winger Jadon Sancho.

The 45-year-old is under growing pressure at Chelsea with fans growing frustrated by a string of poor results and an increasingly dull style of play.

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Sancho, 25, has been a rare bright spark for the Premier League side in recent weeks, scoring one goal and providing three assists in his last three games across all competitions.

Maresca is focusing on the present rather than worrying about next season, however, and has admitted he’s unsure about the winger’s future at the club.

He said, via journalist Ben Jacobs: "The only thing we said to Jadon, and all our offensive players, is that we need more, in terms of numbers, goal and assist.

"So Jadon, as you said in the last games, is doing better. But we need goal and assist from Nico (Jackson), from Cole (Palmer), from Noni (Madueke), from Pedro (Neto), from Enzo (Fernandes) as well.

Maresca then addressed Sancho’s future, alongside that of on-loan wonderkid Andrey Santos.

"(Jadon's future) is the same as with Andrey Santos. In this moment, I'm not thinking at all about next year or the players that can be here next year. I'm just thinking how we can get the best from them to finish the season very strong.”

On Santos, the Italian added: "We know Andrey is doing well. In this moment, we are just focused about how we finish this season. Then when we finish this season, we're going to start to think about next season."

Chelsea have an obligation to buy Sancho from Man United for a fee of around £25 million but would reportedly be able to get out of the deal for a reported £5m.