Enzo Maresca makes summer striker transfer admission after Chelsea's failure to land new no.9 in January | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has hinted Chelsea will look to bolster their forward line this summer.

Chelsea failed to land a new striker during the January transfer window despite interest in the likes of Liam Delap, Evan Ferguson and Victor Gyokeres.

Instead, the Chelsea hierarchy accepted their current options in attack for the remainder of the season, with Nicolas Jackson, Marc Guiu and Christopher Nkunku at Maresca’s disposal.

However, Chelsea did lose Joao Felix on loan to AC Milan. His long-term future remains unclear despite only joining on a permanent basis from Atletico Madrid last summer.

“I don’t know about the future,” Maresca said on Felix’s future. “It’s complicated to talk about the future.

“For me, it’s just about now and the reason why Joao left is because of his desire is to get more minutes. Here, since we started, he struggled to get minutes, and he wants to leave because he wants to play more minutes. It’s no more than that.

Nicolas Jackson was forced off with an injury against West Ham on Monday night. / IMAGO / Sportimage

“Sometimes you buy players, but after six months or one year, altogether - player, club manager - you decide that it’s better option for him to leave or to stay.”

Chelsea suffered a blow during their 2-1 win over West Ham in the Premier League on Monday night.

Nicolas Jackson was forced off with an injury, which appears to be minor and he’s in contention to face Brighton in the FA Cup, while Marc Guiu, who replaced Jackson, also picked up an issue which has caused more concern for the Blues. Guiu’s injury is set to leave him sidelined for at least a few weeks.

Chelsea’s decision to not bring a striker in during the January window has now left them short in the attacking areas. Maresca insists he will find solutions, but it may mean compromises in other areas of the pitch.

As a result, Maresca was quizzed on Chelsea’s striker situation and confirmed the position will assessed between now and the summer.

“From now to the summer, we have still four, five months,” Maresca said. “For sure, in the summer, we will see if we need something different, not only in terms of striker but in general. From there, we decide.

“It’s bad luck that in the same game, two strikers both have an injury. But fortunately the Nico one looks quite good, so it’s not a problem.

“It's a shame for Marc. The reason why Marc was still here in January and we didn't decide to (loan) him was because I can see, day by day, that he is growing, improving, getting better. It is a shame now that he is injured. The future will be 100 per cent with him because he is a very good player.”