Academy star sees off Nkunku, Sterling, Felix, Mudryk and others to prime attacking option for Maresca | OneFootball

The fact that Christopher Nkunku was left off the bench for Chelsea’s game against Fulham on Sunday said a lot about the Frenchman – but it said perhaps even more about one of his teammates.

Nkunku’s absence was described by manager Enzo Maresca as a “technical decision” – that is to say, a coaching decision rather than a medical one. After trying for months to figure the Frenchman out, Maresca has given up. Nkunku hasn’t worked as a 9, as a 10 or out wide in his systems. After some truly dreadful anonymous showings in recent weeks, Maresca had had enough.

The man chosen on the bench instead was Tyrique George. He’s had the opposite trajectory to Nkunku, and has benefitted from his downfall. He’s had plenty of starts in his natural position on the wing in the Conference League (often playing off Nkunku, ironically), but his role in the first team at the moment is as backup to Nicolas Jackson up front.

That should be Nkunku’s role. It’s not his natural position – but it’s not George’s either. The youngster celebrated his promotion by scoring the crucial equaliser against the Whites. He not only did better than Nkunku would have done in that role, he actually did more in his cameo than Jackson had done in his 75 minutes on the pitch.

George climbs to top of tall pile of players

Tyrique George runs. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

What’s amazing is how George has risen up the pecking order – on top of Nkunku, back in the summer there was Pedro Neto, Noni Madueke, Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk, Cole Palmer, Raheem Sterling and Jadon Sancho to worry about.

Yet player by player, George has climbed up to the top of the pile, and you’ve got to give him huge credit for his persistence. We can’t wait to see what he produced in these final week of the season.