

Enzo Maresca said he is “in love” with Josh Acheampong after the Chelsea youth-team graduate produced another composed performance in the 3-0 win over Legia Warsaw.
Fellow academy graduate Tyrique George scored his first senior goal for Chelsea in the 49th minute of the first leg of their Conference League quarter-final tie in Poland’s capital, and in his post-match press conference Maresca praised the attacker’s contribution.
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But the 45-year-old head coach reserved his warmest words for Acheampong, who impressed as a right-back, centre-back and deep-lying midfielder at different stages of Thursday’s game.
“I’m very happy first of all for the Chelsea academy because it’s one of our boys from the academy so very happy for him,” Maresca said of George. “He was quite good first half, taking responsibility, second half in the middle probably he was a bit better.
“But the one that I fell in love with is Josh Acheampong because for me potentially he can be fantastic player, a top player for this club, and for football in general. A good player shows you they can play in different position and do good. He was a full back, good, midfielder, good, central defender, good, so it’s not about ‘I play in that position or in that position’ — if you are a good player you can be in different positions.
“To be honest since we started I’m in love with him but (against Legia) he showed that he can be a very good player for this club.”
Asked if he will continue to deploy Acheampong in a variety of roles, Maresca added: “He can be good in different positions and the best thing from Josh also is that he’s open, he wants to learn; ‘Ok, full back? No problem, what do I have to do? Perfect, midfielder, what do I have to do?’
“Good players, they want to play in all positions, they want to learn and Josh is doing that since we started. We use him in the way we are using Malo Gusto since we started, (Marc) Cucurella: full back inside, central defender inside and he was very good.”
(Top image of Josh Acheampong: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
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