Enzo Maresca says £115m Chelsea star is ‘at the same level’ as Arsenal rival | Football

Enzo Maresca believes Moises Caicedo can now be considered at the same level as Arsenal’s Declan Rice and Manchester City midfielder Rodri.

Caicedo, who joined in a £115 million deal from Brighton last year, struggled for consistency in his first season at Chelsea under Mauricio Pochettino.

But the Ecuador international has been one of Chelsea’s standout performers during Maresca’s reign.

Rice, meanwhile, continues to be a pivotal figure in Arsenal’s midfield under Mikel Arteta and Maresca believes Caicedo is a match for the England international.

‘He is for sure now at that level, no doubt,’ Maresca said.

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‘Unfortunately, Rodri is injured but Declan is playing. But I think Moises can sit at that table with that kind of midfielder.’

Maresca also feels that Chelsea are becoming less reliant on Cole Palmer in their attacking areas.

‘Yes, and we are very happy,’ Maresca said.

‘If you remember in my first press conference I said that we cannot rely on Cole for every game because it is not correct. He has to enjoy football.

‘But if we prepare the season thinking Cole is the only solution then we are wrong. We work every day to allow Cole to be in situations where he can be the best and be good.

‘You see that we move him from the right side to the left side, or from one side to the other side, because we want to put players in situations where they can be the best.

‘I don’t know if the players are better than last season.

‘The only thing I can say is that since we started, with the right side with Noni and Pedro and the left side with Mischa [Mudryk] and Jadon, and Enzo, Cole, Joao the other day, Nico and Christo, the attacking players are doing well.’

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