Enzo Maresca says Chelsea are 'not the same team' without star midfielder, his name is...

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has compared Cole Palmer's presence in his team to that of Mohamed Salah at Liverpool and Erling Haaland at Manchester City. He is pleased with his players stepping up and not dropping the intensity.

Enzo Maresca makes big claim on Cole Palmer's presence

Interacting with the media ahead of the game against Burnley in the Premier League, Maresca said that Chelsea are not the same team in Palmer's absence. He named the Eglishman as the star player in his side and said:

"I'm very proud. Because for us, Cole is like Haaland for City, like Salah for L'pool, and I guess if Haaland doesn’t play for City or Salah for Liverpool, they are not the same team. I'm very proud of the players because, in a difficult moment without Cole, they showed that they are good players and they all want the best for this club."

Discussing how he found out about Palmer's injury, Maresca recalled getting a text from the club doctor at night. He said that the late-night texts from club are never good and said:

"It was 11 o'clock at night. When you receive a message from the doctor at 11 o'clock at night, it's always bad news. I saw my mobile, it was the doctor, and he just said, 'Cole has had an accident at home'. I was next to my wife. I said, 'Oh my god!'. My wife was saying, 'What's happened? What's happened?'. It's like this. I'm not joking, I'm serious."

Cole Palmer's extended stay on the sidelines

Cole Palmer has been on the sidelines since September, when he suffered a groin injury in the 2-1 loss against Manchester United. He was set to return to training this week, but now has been ruled out of the next three matches.

Marcel Desailly requests Chelsea to sign former Liverpool star

Former AC Milan player Marcel Desailly has requested Chelsea to sign Darwin Nunez. He thinks that the former Liverpool striker is perfect fit for Enzo Maresca's team and said:

"Darwin Nunez for me [would be] perfect. Spot on. Young, he had bad luck at Liverpool, but if L'pool took him, it means that they've seen in him a real potential. I wanted Darwin Nunez to come into the system confident, with Maresca, with a good system."

"It could have really been helpful for Chelsea. Not too expensive. So this is my opinion. I would have really loved to see that player into the squad. If he's still in the market, if Saudi is not suiting him correctly, he could be the one that comes back."

Chelsea are one point ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League after 11 games.