Enzo Maresca breaks silence on Antoine Semenyo as Man City beat Chelsea to transfer
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Enzo Maresca played down Chelsea's reported interest in Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo, as he insisted that he is "in love" with his current squad.
Recent reports claimed that Chelsea made an enquiry for a potential January deal for Semenyo, who is said to have an active release clause at a reasonable rate.
Not long after, reports surfaced that the Blues ended their approach for the versatile winger, with the club confident in the depth of quality of their existing options.
Manchester City are currently said to be leading the race for the winger.
Maresca unsurprisingly had to deal with questions about the rumours, and he repeated that he is satisfied with his squad.
"I'm focused on Aston Villa, I'm not focused on players that may arrive or leave," the Italian responded when asked about Chelsea's rumoured enquiry for Semenyo during Wednesday's press conference.
"The only focus for me in this moment is the Aston Villa game, which is for sure going to be a tough game because they're doing fantastic.
"Again, I'm in love with the squad we have. I don't think we need to do something (in the transfer window)."
Chelsea currently have plenty of wingers at their disposal, such as Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho, Estevao, Jamie Gittens, and Tyrique George.
Cole Palmer, who primarily plays as a number 10, is also capable of operating on the right flank.
That said, it is easy to see why Chelsea reportedly made an attempt for Semenyo, especially since his release clause is said to be at around £65m, which is relatively cheap for a player of his calibre.
The Bournemouth winger has had an incredible season, in which he has already racked up eight goals and three assists in the Premier League.
That said, Chelsea remain the fourth-highest scoring side in the Premier League this term with 29 goals, despite having so many young attackers in the squad, so they should be under no pressure to bring in a new attacker in January.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.