Enzo Maresca has blasted the “completely wrong” Premier League scheduling that forced Chelsea to play on transfer deadline day, after he was dealt a centre-forward injury crisis in the final hours of the window.
The Blues beat West Ham 2-1 on the last day of the window this month, but victory came at a cost as first Nicolas Jackson and then Marc Guiu suffered hamstring injuries.
Both players are set for significant spells on the sidelines, with Maresca confirming on Thursday that first-choice No9 Nicolas Jackson will not return until after he March international break.
Those injuries have cast a dim light on Chelsea’s decision not to strengthen their forward line in January, but Maresca instead directed his frustration at the timing of the London derby, which left the club no time to react in the transfer market.
Chelsea and West Ham were the only clubs to play on the Monday night of deadline day, with the rest of top-flight clubs in action over the weekend.
“I think it’s completely wrong,” Maresca said of his side having to play as the window drew to close.
“No [we can’t plan for it] and the reason is that we had two injuries on the deadline. We finished the game at 10pm and the deadline was 11pm. You cannot plan to get injuries to two strikers in the same game.
“It’s impossible, but it happened and now we need to find solutions because we didn’t have time to go for a No9.
“It’s something you cannot plan, in the same game, on the deadline, two strikers both injured. It’s difficult to plan that.”
Despite the injuries, Maresca confirmed Chelsea will not look to make a free agent signing, nor cancel plans to send Deivid Washington to Brazilian side Santos on loan, should that deal be confirmed.
He also insisted he has no regrets over allowing Joao Felix to join AC Milan on loan on deadline day.
“We didn't make a decision for one week or one day,” he said. “We sat and made a decision thinking about different things. Joao is happy in Milan and we are happy that he is happy there.”
