Chelsea striker Marc Guiu was “not training well” to play recently but Enzo Maresca insists he is now “ready to start” for the Blues.
The west London club signed Guiu from Barcelona for £5m last year as they continued to look around Europe for the best young players.
Guiu joined Premier League side Sunderland on a loan deal in August, only for Chelsea to recall him before the end of the transfer window after playing just three matches for the Black Cats.
He made his first appearance of the season earlier this month as Chelsea beat Liverpool 2-1 after failing to play a part in the previous six matches.
The 19-year-old came off the bench against Nottingham Forest last weekend and started and scored in the Blues’ 5-1 win over Ajax in the Champions League in midweek.
And Maresca has revealed that Guiu was not training well enough to play for Chelsea before he played his part against Liverpool on October 4.
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Maresca revealed in his press conference on Friday: “We had a chat with Marc two weeks ago, I told him the way he was training I didn’t like and that he needs to change. He changed and he gets the chance, it’s like that.
“He was not training well, in all ways.”
When asked for the reason behind Guiu’s lack of effort, Maresca replied: “I don’t know, that’s why a young player sometimes, they are one way so you need to go slowly, slowly with them.
“But since we chat he stopped. He’s 1761314716 fantastic and working very good.”
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On whether he was now ready to start, Maresca added: “Absolutely yes. He’s ready to start.”
When asked if Guiu could potentially be loaned back to Sunderland in January, Maresca replied: “Oh my god, we are in October, I don’t know.
“In football, things can change very quick for everyone, for players, for managers, for everyone, so it’s very difficult to say.”
Estevao is another young player who is impressing at Stamford Bridge with the 18-year-old Brazilian impressing for club and country this season.
On the increasing attention on Estevao, Maresca added: “We have Andrey Santos and Joao Pedro who are both helping him a lot because they have already been in Europe for a different time so they are helping him a lot.
“As a club and a staff, we just try to help him and give him the attention he needs but not just with Estevao, with all the young players that have come from abroad.
“We said the other day he is a special player. The good thing about him is that he just thinks about football, he enjoys it and he is happy.
“Again, his family is doing a fantastic job with they way they raised him.”
