Chelsea may have a surprising new super sub for Enzo Maresca after Inter Milan draw

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca may have unearthed a new goalscoring super sub ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

The Blues hosted Inter Milan in their final pre-season fixture before next weekend’s Premier League opener at Stamford Bridge against Manchester City.

Having struggled throughout their pre-season campaign, it looked as if Chelsea were heading towards another disappointing result in the sweltering London heat.

However, with 90 minutes left on the clock, Lesley Ugochukwu stepped up to level the score, ensuring Chelsea didn’t finish pre-season on the back of a defeat.

Picking up a bouncing ball inside the penalty area, Ugochukwu lashed home from 12 yards out, before wheeling off to celebrate in front of a jubilant Stamford Bridge crowd.

It wasn’t the first time the 20-year-old had bailed Chelsea out this summer though, with Ugochukwu coming off the bench to net late on in the capital club’s 2-2 draw with League One Wrexham.

The midfielder could prove to be a hidden weapon for Maresca and Chelsea this summer, should he manage to keep up his goal threat from the bench.

There’s every chance Chelsea will need Ugochukwu to chip in with goals, considering they’ll start the campaign with question marks hanging over their options in attack.

Aside from player of the season Cole Palmer, only one forward broke the double-digit mark for the two-time European champions in the Premier League last time around.

Even then, four of Nicolas Jackson’s 14 league goals came in the final month of the campaign, when the Senegal international was beginning to find his feet under former boss Mauricio Pochettino.

But with Pochettino out the door and Todd Boehly and co. having appointed yet another coach, Jackson and the rest of his misfiring Chelsea team-mates will have to get to grips with a brand new system and set-up.

Early signs have been promising though, at least from an attacking point of view, with Chelsea having scored 11 goals in their six pre-season outings.

The six-time English champions have been boosted by the return of Christopher Nkunku, who had joined the club this time last year but sat most of the season out through injury.

They’ll also welcome another new face into the attack, with Pedro Neto’s £54million move from Wolverhampton Wanderers having been completed over the weekend.

It will be an opening day showdown with former tutor Pep Guardiola for Maresca in his first league game as boss on Sunday, before Chelsea turn attention to their Europa Conference League campaign the following mid-week.