Chelsea: Enzo Maresca hits back in row with Crystal Palace over Trevoh Chalobah loan recall | OneFootball

Maresca explains Blues decision and denies Palace claim

Chalobah is back at Chelsea to help ease their defensive shortage

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Enzo Maresca has claimed Trevoh Chalobah is happy to be back at Chelsea, who he says only loaned the defender out to Crystal Palace to help their financial situation.

Chelsea brought the 25-year-old back to help ease their defensive shortage following hamstring injuries to Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashuile.

Palace manager Oliver Glasner said on Tuesday that Chalobah did not want to end his loan early, but now Maresca has said that Chalobah is pleased to be back at Cobham.

Maresca says Chalobah is happy to be back at Chelsea

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Maresca also revealed the initial decision to loan him to Palace last summer was “not only a technical decision”, and was partly made to help with Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

“It’s quite an easy process,” Maresca said. “We have new injuries. We were looking for a solution. We thought probably the best solution was to bring Trev back.

“We know him very well. He can help us. He knows the house better than me! He was very happy, I can see his face. I had a chat with him a few days ago, and I had a chat with him earlier today.

“The reason why he left at the beginning of the season was financial fair play, these kinds of things. It was not only a technical decision. The reason why he is here is that we are sure he can help us now.”

Maresca has also explained that Reece James continues to have his minutes managed, tempering clamour for the Chelsea captain to start against Wolves on Monday after his last-gasp free-kick equaliser off the bench against Bournemouth on Tuesday.

James has recently recovered from a hamstring injury sustained in November, with his only match minutes since returning being 34 minutes against the Cherries and 45 minutes in the 5-0 FA Cup win over Morecambe.

“For Reece, it’s not about being many minutes, it’s just about managing his situation a little bit,” Maresca said.

“He can be ready, but what we don’t want with Reece is that we go again and [he gets an] injury again. We have tried to help him, and we are going to do exactly this again.”