Nkunku and Felix will NEVER break in Chelsea's A team

Cameron Smith

• 31 Oct 2024 04:30 CDT
• 4 min read

Chelsea’s bloated first-team squad has been divided into two separate starting XIs by Enzo Maresca since the start of the 2024-25 campaign.

There is, of course, some overlap, but the basic principle is that one team is favoured in the Premier League and the other is used in cup competitions.

Against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, Maresca made 11 changes to the starting XI that faced the Magpies in the Premier League just three days prior.

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The combined cost of Chelsea’s team at St James’ Park exceeded €525 million, but it became embarrassingly clear why Maresca has been reluctant to make widespread alterations to his ‘A team’.

Filip Jorgensen was a bag of nerves in between the sticks, Axel Disasi was frighteningly poor, while Tosin Adarabioyo and Benoit Badiashile were an obvious step down from Maresca’s favoured pairing of Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana.

Marc Cucurella and Mykhailo Mudryk equipped themselves well down the left flank, but they were the only standouts in a below par Chelsea performance.

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Meanwhile, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was anonymous in an unusual right wing role, and the midfield pivot of Enzo Fernandez and Renato Veiga simply didn’t work.

However, arguably the most concerning element of Chelsea’s defeat was the ineffectiveness of Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku.

Both players were expected to play key roles at Chelsea upon their arrival at the club, but they have been restricted to appearances in the club’s ‘B team’ so far this season and that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

Felix was the crown jewel of Europe after his breakthrough at Benfica, however he has never delivered consistently at the highest level, while Nkunku’s stock has plummeted since his move from RB Leipzig to the riches of west London.

Nkunku and Felix go missing

Newcastle were, quite frankly, gifted two first-half goals by Chelsea’s stupidity at the back, but Nkunku and Felix both had chances to seal a comeback for Maresca’s men.

The former fluffed a fantastic opportunity inside the penalty area following a Mudryk cutback, while the latter somehow poked the ball wide when played one-on-one against Nick Pope.

Felix showed flashes of brilliance at St James’ Park, but his end product has always been lacking and despite six shots on goal, he failed to find the back of the net.

In fact, Chelsea may already be seriously regretting their decision to spend €52m on him this summer.

STATS

João Félix

F (CL)

Chelsea

João Félix

F (CL)

Chelsea

All Tournaments

2024/25

• 11

  Games

• 3

  Goals

• 1

  Assists

View all stats

Felix has just eight goal contributions in 29 appearances for Chelsea, during his two spells at the club, and, despite playing almost exclusively in a number 10 role, his only assist for the club came against League Two outfit Barrow earlier this campaign.

Nkunku, on the other hand, has been fairly clinical across his limited time at Stamford Bridge, however he is firmly behind Nicolas Jackson in the pecking order.

Jackson’s critics were in the thousands during his debut campaign at Chelsea, but they’ve dissipated following a sublime start to the new season.

The Senegal star has become a reliable finisher inside the penalty area, while his all-round link-up play is far superior to Nkunku.

The France international looked lethargic at times on Wednesday night and although there were questions over whether Jackson should lose his place in the Premier League XI, those have completely disappeared over the past week.

Meanwhile, Cole Palmer is Chelsea's best player and he will continue to get the nod over the vastly underwhelming Felix.

Nkunku and Felix cost Chelsea over €100m, but if things continue in their current vein, they will simply never displace Jackson and Palmer in the club's favoured starting XI.