Chelsea news: Christopher Nkunku suggests Enzo Maresca partly to blame for Stamford Bridge struggles

Christopher Nkunku has suggested that Enzo Maresca's playing style prevented him from being a success at Chelsea.

The 28-year-old has recently ended a turbulent three-year stint at Stamford Bridge and AC Milan by rejoining former club RB Leipzig,

Nkunku has already contributed one goal and two assists across four games to suggest that he could recapture his best form in Germany.

However, his time at Chelsea under Mauricio Pochettino and Enzo Maresca was hampered by injury and being played out of position.

Although the France international still chipped in with 18 goals and five assists from 62 appearances, just six strikes and two assists came from two seasons in the Premier League.

Nkunku claims Maresca philosophy hindered Chelsea spell

Speaking in an interview with The Athletic, Nkunku revealed that Maresca prevented him from playing with the kind of creative freedom that he had been used to earlier in his career.

He said: "I don’t want to complain, and I don’t complain. I could do things better also.

“Chelsea was more like, ‘You need to stay in your position’. If you play as a winger, you needed to stay on the (touchline) and just do one-v-one.

"This is something I can do, but not all the game because I need to switch position and drift."

The playmaker added: "He has one system where maybe I could play only one position. But he preferred to play another player or he put me in another position. So I need to respect that.

"I said, ‘Maybe I can play other positions’ but he’s the boss, so he decided."

Nkunku in right place to kick-start career

Having starred for RB Leipzig for a number of seasons, Nkunku inevitably craved joining a bigger club and taking on new challenges.

However, he has returned to Germany knowing that it is the best place for him to play his football, even though scoring 26 goals and providing eight assists in 97 appearances for Chelsea and AC Milan is far from a disaster.

There will also be a case of what could have been if Nkunku did not sustain a hamstring injury during the back end of his first pre-season with Chelsea.

Nevertheless, he now has a senior role at a club where he is also a legend, and has a role off the pitch to help nurture the many young players at RB Leipzig.