Enzo Maresca can end 10-month Chelsea wait after controversial summer transfer decision

Ten months have passed since Marc Guiu last started a competitive match for Chelsea, but Wednesday evening seems as clear an opportunity as any for the wait to end for the Spaniard.

At just 19 years old, the striker is very highly rated at Stamford Bridge. The plan for this season initially was for Guiu to get first-team experience elsewhere in the Premier League, with Sunderland signing him on a loan deal in the summer transfer window. There were talks over including a clause for Guiu to eventually move to the Stadium of Light on a permanent basis but Chelsea were not interested, with the club rating him very highly, football.london understands.

Guiu, signed from Barcelona in the summer of 2024 for as little as £5million, featured three times for the Black Cats and scored in his only start for the club - a penalty shootout defeat to Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup. Chelsea allowing Guiu to leave, and later Nicolas Jackson, left the Blues quite short in the striker department.

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When Liam Delap limped off in the first-half of the win over Fulham on August 30 - two days before the summer transfer window ended - there were talks during the game between the sporting directors regarding Chelsea's plan of action. It left them with Joao Pedro as the only fit striker, with Tyrique George able to fill in there as a false nine.

Chelsea decided to inform Jackson, who had only just landed in Munich to complete his switch to Bayern, that his loan was terminated due to the situation. Though Jackson and his representatives did not take that too well and were insistent they would get the move to the Allianz Arena over the line.

And they did. Jackson ended up moving to Bayern for the remainder of the campaign and Chelsea made the decision to recall Guiu to offer another option in the central striker position. Since returning to Stamford Bridge, though, Guiu has featured only twice in all competitions - and they have come in the last two games.

The former Barcelona striker impressed in his cameo appearance against Liverpool before the international break and was then awarded even more minutes away at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. After a fairly lacklustre first-half, Guiu - along with Moises Caicedo and Jamie Gittens - were introduced at the break and they helped the Blues change the game at the City Ground.

A sharp turn to win the free-kick that led to Pedro Neto's goal was a particular highlight for Guiu, but his off-the-ball work really helped Chelsea as well. "I think he was on for 15 minutes against Liverpool, fighting with Van Dijk, Konate and Gravenberch, and he was very good. Today, after one minute of the second-half, he won a corner against Morato," Enzo Maresca said on Guiu's performance in Nottingham. "So we need that from Marc."

Guiu's last start for Chelsea in a competitive game came against Shamrock Rovers on December 19 - over 10 months ago now - and it feels like Wednesday evening is the perfect time to end that wait. If the wait extends, then when will it ever end?

Joao Pedro will serve his one-match suspension against Ajax in the Champions League after he picked up two yellow cards in the Blues' last European fixture versus Benfica. Delap is closing in on his long-awaited return but the striker is not quite ready just yet, while George provides a more unorthodox option for the hosts in SW6.

Maresca was very complimentary of Guiu in his pre-Ajax press conference on Tuesday afternoon and the Chelsea head coach insisted he has full faith in the young Spaniard. The Italian said: "We trust Marc, we trusted him already last year, he was always playing in the Conference [League], we also gave him some Premier League games, so we are sure in the past that we trust Marc.

"Now he is again with us and he is going to play the games, for sure."

If he does indeed start, then Guiu has the chance to change the narrative at Stamford Bridge. As it stands, it is Joao Pedro with George and Guiu - who seem far below the Brazilian in the pecking order - as back-up options. The Spaniard can completely change that and become Chelsea’s Jackson replacement.

Before the campaign started, the Blues wanted two out-and-out No.9s alongside a versatile central attacker (e.g. Joao Pedro). Jackson has gone and Guiu can deputise. And it all starts on Wednesday night.