Chelsea will always be busy in a transfer window – it’s a story as old as time.
This time, however, there may be more outs than ins as the Blues look to put their house in order and reduce their numbers
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The Blues have made 36 new signings since Todd Boehly took control of the club in 2022.
And even when these purchases finally bear fruit and you fight for the Premier League title as underdogs, sometimes something has to give.
Carney Chukwuemeka and Ben Chilwell are already set to leave Stamford Bridge after failing to keep up the pecking order in west London.
And Maresca believes any player who wants to leave should do so if they are unhappy with the club – although he claims it is not a priority for him.
He said: “At this moment the focus is on the Fulham game. We don’t think about players who want to leave. If that happens, we’ll see.
“But at the moment we don’t think this or that player has to go. We just think about how we can win games.
“Then when they knock on the door and want to leave, I’m not going to say, ‘No, no, you have to stay here 100 percent.'” If they want to leave, the best thing for everyone is that the players are unhappy , go.”
Christopher Nkunku has also been linked with a move, having only started two Premier League games.
This is despite scoring 12 goals in all competitions and impressing in cups, including the Europa Conference League.
But Maresca is not yet ready to allow the French international to leave.
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“We like Christo and we want him here,” he said.
“There will always be players who are unhappy and some who will ask to leave in January. I’m not sure if it will be Christo’s case or another player’s. We want to keep them here because we are happy with them here.”
Although the Blues were second in the Premier League table at Christmas – and are just two games away from the halfway point of the season – Maresca remains cautious when it comes to title contention.
“I think reality says for sure that we are second and that after four and five games you are not second if the table does not quite correspond to reality.”
“The table reflects the teams where they are. But Liverpool are doing a fantastic job from day one, the team has probably already experienced this moment and won trophies.”
“I said last year when Liverpool played Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final, I saw how many finals Liverpool players and Chelsea players played and there was a huge difference. That shows what experience you need to take part in this race.”
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And Maresca also rates Man City as challengers, despite the terrible form they have had of late.
He added: “I think Man City will be there in the end. You are in a moment that has never existed before. They don’t have enough players at the moment, it’s a very bad situation for them.”