CHELSEA boss Enzo Maresca admitted transfer speculation had affected the side this month – and said the club would “absolutely not” be recalling Kepa Arrizabalaga from his loan at Bournemouth.
A number of Blues players including Alex Disasi, Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku have been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge.
There have also been question marks over goalkeeper Robert Sanchez after recent errors, leading to that question about the goalkeeper position.
Chelsea have won only one of their last seven Premier League games after being talked about as potential title contenders, and Maresca believes that transfer speculation hasn’t helped their form.
“One hundred per cent for me yes,” Maresca said. “I have said many times they are human beings, even if they say, ‘I am professional, I am focused on this’, if they are talking about you and different clubs the focus is not 100 per cent. But as I said it’s not just for us.
“That’s one thing, the other thing is losing Wes [Fofana]. For us, he has been a key player. If you see City, Arsenal or other teams it happens in all the teams. The good thing is we still have a good performance and we create chances and a big difference for me has been inside the box.”
Asked about a potential Kepa return, Maresca replied: “Absolutely not.”
Maresca’s side face former Blues manager Graham Potter when they take on West Ham United at home on Monday.
The Blues lost 3-1 at Manchester City last weekend.
“We need a response, we need a good performance to try and win the game,” Maresca said. “For sure it would be a good moment to get three points.”
Wes is out, Romeo [Lavia] is out and Benoit [Badiashile] is out. The rest are okay.”
Maresca added: “We have in this moment many noises around the players but it is not just for us, if you as Graham I don’t know if he has noises around players.
“But overall it is the same situation for all of the clubs and managers. The good thing is Monday is the last day.”
