Maresca drops Chelsea selection hint vs Wolves as he shares Estevao's weather complaint | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has suggested that, despite being "ready", Estevao may not keep his starting spot in the Chelsea starting line-up ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Wolves.

Estevao has become one of Chelsea's most reliable attackers in recent weeks, having scored four goals in his last seven appearances for the club in all competitions.

Yet, since the win over Fulham in August, the Brazil international has yet to start in two consecutive games for Chelsea.

Maresca, who has also faced criticism for his tendency to rotate his team heavily from match to match, has made it clear that in Estevao's case, it had nothing to do with a lack of trust.

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"For sure he's ready to start (in back-to-back games)," the Italian said in Friday's press conference when speaking about Estevao.

"But if Estevao starts, another one is on the bench. And probably the other one also wants to start.

"We just try to do the best for Estevao. We are helping him in terms of adapting to England.

"Again, last week he was complaining about it being cold. Last week was still October. Imagine December, January!

"He has to adapt. He's happy. He's doing fantastic. For sure, he's a talented player for this club."

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In fairness, Estevao is a unique player who spends a lot of energy in many one-on-one situations during games; it makes sense to utilise him more carefully.

The former Palmeiras star averages 8.86 take-on attempts per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, per FBRef, by far the highest at Chelsea.

To put it into perspective, the second highest is Pedro Neto with 4.29 attempts per 90 minutes.

Estevao also ranks third in terms of carrying the ball into the opposition penalty box (2.86 per 90), behind only Jamie Gittens (2.96) and Alejandro Garnacho (3.93).

In addition to that, Estevao could arguably be just as or even more effective against tired defenders as a substitute.