19 hours Ago By Jack McEachen
Former Chelsea defender Graham Roberts has warned Enzo Maresca that he could be out of a job if Champions League football does not return to Stamford Bridge. The Premier League is all but certain to have at least five teams in Europe’s top competition next season, but the Blues may still miss out. Maresca’s outfit currently occupy sixth place in the table but enter Thursday’s clash with Tottenham having won just two of their last five league matches, those coming against basement sides Leicester and Southampton .
They still have fellow Champions League pushers Fulham , Newcastle and Nottingham Forest to play this season in addition to matches against Liverpool , Manchester United and Spurs. And Roberts, who spent two years at Chelsea and played a key role in their promotion back to the top flight in 1989, has sounded the alarm to Maresca that his future is at risk if the club do not return to the Champions League. “I think they have had a poor season to be fair,” Roberts told Express Sport with Mr Vegas Online Casino.
“Out of the cups early, I think they are going to win the Conference League , I think they will win that comfortably. They are the best team in it by a million miles. “If he doesn’t get Champions League football I can see him not being there because they want that Champions League football.
This is a massive game for them on Thursday night.” Questions will be raised if stars such as Cole Palmer spend another year without Champions League football, but Roberts has poured cold water on the suggestion that the England man would depart in that scenario. He did caution that Palmer himself would have concerns over the club’s future plans, however.
“He just signed a seven-year contract, he is on more money than anyone,” Roberts added. “I don’t think he will be going anywhere but I think he will ask the question. If he does go, Maresca, 'who is going to be the next manager? And are we getting some decent players in?' “I think centre-forward is a position that they need to answer.
” Palmer signed a seven-year contract when he joined Chelsea in a £42.5million deal from Manchester City and extended his deal by two years, to 2033, last summer. He will be 31 at the end of that new contract.
Roberts also stressed that Chelsea need to bring in a “top” striker this summer, with the club reportedly interested in the likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Victor Osimhen and Liam Delap..
