Former Chelsea star John Obi Mikel has named one thing new manager Enzo Maresca must do at Stamford Bridge next season.
Maresca has agreed to become Chelsea’s new manager following the departure of Mauricio Pochettino, and has signed a five year contract with the option of further year.
The Italian guided Leicester City to the Championship title last season, but managing Chelsea will be a huge step up for the 44-year-old who has just one full season of senior management experience under his belt.
Mikel names one thing Maresca must do
The former Leicester City boss will be under pressure to get Chelsea back into the Champions League and bring silverware to west London.
The Europa Conference League represents a brilliant opportunity for Maresca to win a trophy in his first season in charge.
Despite an up and down campaign under Pochettino, the Blues had a strong second half of the season, finishing with fives win a row, which secured a top six finish and a return to European competition.
Instrumental to their success was Cole Palmer, with the 22-year-old taking the Premier League by storm, scoring 22 goals and providing 11 assists in his first season playing regular football, and was rightly named Premier League Young Player of the Year.
Former Blue Mikel believes it’s vital Maresca continues to get the best out of Palmer like Pochettino was able to.
“He has been amazing,” Mikel told talkSPORT.
“Obviously, he has been the best player so far for Chelsea, I think he (Enzo Maresca) has to get the best out of him.
“Poch managed to do that, can Enzo do that?
“There are a lot of players as well I think that Enzo needs to get the best out of.”
Maresca knows Palmer from their time together at the Manchester City academy, and the England international scored 13 goals in 16 appearances under the Italian as he guided them to the Premier League 2 title for the first time in the club’s history.