Enzo Maresca provides worrying injury update on Chelsea star after he picked up knock in Fulham win

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has revealed that Malo Gusto suffered a muscle injury during their Premier League match against Fulham on Sunday (April 20). The Blues secured their first away win in the league since beating Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 on December 8, thanks to late goals from Tyrique George and Pedro Neto.

Gusto, who has been a key player for Chelsea this season, came on as a substitute immediately after the first half, replacing Reece James. In the 88th minute, when the match was tied at 1-1, the Frenchman was seen writhing in pain. The referee had to signal to the team’s physio, who came to treat him on the pitch.

Maresca was forced to replace him in the following minute with Tosin Adarabioyo. When the Italian head coach was asked about Gusto after the game, he showered praise on the 21-year-old, but also suggested that the defender’s injury was serious.

The Chelsea boss said in the post-match press conference (via football.london):

"Unfortunately, it's not a good one, a muscle problem and you can see against Ipswich, second half he was inside, changed the game, today he was inside, changed the game, how important is Malo for us and unfortunately, it looks like a muscle injury."

Malo Gusto has featured in every Premier League game he was eligible for this season, except one. Across competitions, he has racked up a total of 2,142 minutes. This is the third time that Gusto has picked up an injury this term.

"That was the plan" – Enzo Maresca on why he withdrew Reece James at halftime of the Fulham vs Chelsea match

In the same press conference, Enzo Maresca said his decision to sub out Reece James after the first half of Chelsea’s league match with Fulham was pre-planned and not because of tactical reasons. James was responsible for his side conceding against the Cottagers, as he was dispossessed by Ryan Sessegnon while trying to push an attack.

Immediately after the second half kicked off, Maresca took him out off the game. On the withdrawal, Maresca said:

"Fantastic, very happy because he played 90 minutes two days ago and played again 45, so for us as a team, it's an important moment because we can start to think about him every three days and this is fantastic for us because he's our captain, he's a main player, fantastic player so it's good news. Then it can happen, we conceded the first goal when he lost the ball, it can happen and the reason why we changed him was not just because he played 90 minutes two days ago, 45 and that was the plan.’’

Reece James has been on the sidelines for a huge chunk of this season. He has featured only in 19 games for Chelsea across competitions.