“I think” – Enzo Maresca reveals who will cover Moises Caicedo after Dario Essugo injury | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has revealed who he thinks can cover for Moises Caicedo in the absence of summer signing Dario Essugo.

The Blues signed Essugo from Sporting Lisbon in a deal worth around £18m, with the 20-year-old set to provide cover for Caicedo.

Essugo made his debut in the Club World Cup, and impressed in pre-season against Bayer Leverkusen, although he’s yet to feature in the opening three league games.

Maresca reveals who will cover Moises Caicedo after Essugo injury

However, Essugo will have to wait a while longer to make his league debut after suffering a thigh injury whilst on international duty with the Portugal under-21s.

Chelsea fear Essugo could miss up to 12 weeks after he underwent surgery, a blow to both the Blues and the youngster himself.

Essugo was the cover for Caicedo, but he’s now expected to be out for 12 weeks.

With the games coming thick and fast now Chelsea will need to give a Caicedo a rest, but their natural alternative in the squad is now missing.

Maresca had raised doubts about the involvement of Caicedo and the other South American internationals against Brentford after they returned late from international duty.

Caicedo will more than likely start like he always seems to, but Maresca has spoken on who could cover him in Essugo’s absence.

“Romeo [Lavia], if he is fit, they can also play together, Moises and Romeo,” he told The Standard.

“I think Andrey [Santos] can play there. Otherwise, we need to try different things as tried in the past with, I don’t know, Josh [Acheampong] as a No6, or Reece [James] as a No6.

“But in this moment, for sure, it’s Romeo, Moises, Andrey.”

Romeo Lavia back in training

Lavia is so important to Chelsea and has shown his quality when fit,  but has been plagued by injury for most of his time at Stamford Bridge.

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The Belgian hasn’t featured since the Club World Cup game against Benfica, although in a big boost he returned to first team training this week.

However, Maresca has confirmed whilst Lavia is close he won’t feature against Brentford, and his return can’t come soon enough for Chelsea.