Enzo Maresca admits he 'likes' Marc Guehi but has played down any rumors surrounding the England defender's return to Chelsea this month.
Guehi came through Chelsea's youth ranks but made just two first-team appearances for the Blues before joining Swansea City on loan and then moving to Crystal Palace on a permanent deal.
The 24-year-old, who was the subject of several bids from Newcastle United in the previous transfer window, has been linked with a return to his former club, with Chelsea reportedly keeping an eye on him after spending the last 18 months of his Palace spell had entered. contract.
Among Palace defenders, Guehi has made the most blocks (16), the second most interceptions (19, equal with Chelsea loanee Trevoh Chalobah) and won the second most games (102) this season.
Chelsea are struggling with injuries to their central defender, with Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile both out for long periods, but Maresca insists the club will not rush into the transfer market.
“All I can say is that Marc Guehi is a Palace player,” Maresca said ahead of Chelsea's FA Cup tie with Morecambe. “I certainly like Marc, but he is not our player.
“I also like the centre-backs we have, and the different centre-backs in Italy, Spain and France, but that doesn't mean we are going to buy the player.
“It's a normal situation when you have such injuries to the central defender that there is speculation. There is nothing there.”
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Maresca also confirmed his intention to leave both Ben Chilwell and Cesare Casadei out of their FA Cup squad.
Chilwell has made just one appearance under Maresca, in the EFL Cup, with the Italian hinting the left-back could leave this month.
“Chilwell, I think he's probably going to leave at this point, so it's better not to use him to avoid these kinds of situations, injuries or things like that,” Maresca added.
'It's more or less the same [for Casadei]. At the moment the plan is not to give him any minutes, in case there is an opportunity for him to play.”
Chelsea's defensive work has been in the spotlight in recent weeks as the Blues lost ground to Liverpool in the Premier League, having failed to win any of their last four games (D2 L2).
They conceded three goals in the 80th minute or later during that series, but Maresca said he wasn't concerned about this recent trend.
“No, the players don't switch off [at the end of games]he said. “During the season you have moves where you score at the end, and there are times where you concede at the end.
“Just like there are moments when you score goals from set pieces and moments when you counter from set pieces.
“Hopefully it's just a moment and we can avoid that. We start scoring in the last minutes so we can get a good feeling out of it.”
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