"Like Haaland for City..like Salah for Liverpool," - Enzo Maresca claims Chelsea are 'not the same team' without one superstar

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has compared Cole Palmer's importance in his side to that of Mohamed Salah at Liverpool and Erling Haaland at Manchester City. He is proud of his players for stepping up and ensuring they have not dropped in level.

Speaking to the media ahead of the Burnley clash in the Premier League, Maresca said that Chelsea are not the same side without Palmer and they need him back soon. He named the Englishman as the star player in his side and said (via Football London):

"I'm very proud. Because for us, Cole is like Haaland for City, like Salah for L'pool, and I guess if Haaland doesn’t play for City or Salah for Liverpool, they are not the same team. I'm very proud of the players because, in a difficult moment without Cole, they showed that they are good players and they all want the best for this club."

Talking about how he found out about Palmer's injury, Maresca recalled receiving a text from the club doctor at 11 pm. He added that the late-night texts from club are never good and said:

"It was 11 o'clock at night. When you receive a message from the doctor at 11 o'clock at night, it's always bad news. I saw my mobile, it was the doctor, and he just said, 'Cole has had an accident at home'. I was next to my wife. I said, 'Oh my god!'. My wife was saying, 'What's happened? What's happened?'. It's like this. I'm not joking, I'm serious."

Cole Palmer has been out since September, when he picked up a groin injury in the 2-1 defeat at Manchester United. He was scheduled to return to training this week, but has now been ruled out of the next three games.

Chelsea urged to sign former Liverpool star by Marcel Desailly

Former AC Milan star Marcel Desailly has urged Chelsea to sign Darwin Nunez. He believes that the former Liverpool star is ideal for Enzo Maresca's side and said (via Football London):

"Darwin Nunez for me [would be] perfect. Spot on. Young, he had bad luck at Liverpool, but if L'pool took him, it means that they've seen in him a real potential. I wanted Darwin Nunez to come into the system confident, with Maresca, with a good system."

"It could have really been helpful for Chelsea. Not too expensive. So this is my opinion. I would have really loved to see that player into the squad. If he's still in the market, if Saudi is not suiting him correctly, he could be the one that comes back."

Chelsea are one point ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League table after 11 matches.