It is a strange one with Christopher Nkunku. Chelsea supporters have become frustrated with his performances this season - particularly in the second half of the campaign - but there is an acceptance that there is a serious footballer in there somewhere.

The 27-year-old, signed from RB Leipzig for £52million in 2023, has scored 13 goals in all competitions this term. Only Cole Palmer - with 14 goals - has scored more than Nkunku. Despite this, the Frenchman remains a bit-part player at Stamford Bridge, although Enzo Maresca explained last week how that could change from now on.

Maresca said: "Yes, for sure, for sure [Nkunku can play a bigger role for Chelsea]. I spoke already last week about Christo. Against West Ham, he played already more or less half an hour. From now on, he can hopefully get some more minutes and help us."

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"Absolutely," the head coach added when asked if Nkunku can unleash his full potential in SW6. "I was with the club and we were sure before the transfer window that Christo was one of the players that our intention was to keep him."

Nkunku was used for only 29 minutes in the Premier League throughout the month of January with speculation over his future rife at the time. The France international was wanted by Bayern Munich with talks taking place with the Bundesliga club. Also, Manchester United made a late approach to Chelsea - that was quickly rebuffed - to sign the former RB Leipzig forward.

Now, though, with it being clear Nkunku has a future at Stamford Bridge; at the very least until the end of the season, we could be about to see more of the Frenchman. He completed 90 minutes at Brighton on Saturday evening as Chelsea crashed out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage but he failed to impress down on the south coast.

Maresca has said on numerous occasions that he sees Nkunku as more of a No.10 but because of the club's lack of options in the striker position, he has more often than not been deployed as the centre-forward. Nicolas Jackson was absent for the trip to the Amex Stadium because of injury but there is hope the 23-year-old striker will be fit enough to lead the line on Friday night as the Blues return to Sussex to take on the Seagulls in the Premier League.

If that is the case, then there is definitely scope for Nkunku to be used as the No.10 but that would mean a reshuffle in attack and potentially shifting Cole Palmer out wide. Palmer was used on the right wing frequently while Mauricio Pochettino was in charge but has barely been used there under Maresca's tutelage.

Regardless of where Palmer starts on the pitch, he often ends up in the same areas anyway, as Maresca explained last month. "We could, but you mention that with Cole playing wide, the full-back overlaps, but when the full-back overlapped, Cole was inside the pitch," the head coach said in January.

"It was the same position because the full-back didn't overlap outside the pitch, so Cole moved inside the full-back to overlap and then it's the same position as with us. It's just the starting position. Then the ball moves, the game is dynamic, and Cole changes positions.

"With us, it could be an idea. He played the first game of the season against [Manchester] City wide right with Malo [Gusto] overlapping. He finished in the pocket, the same position, and I prefer to see Cole inside."

Maresca has made it perfectly clear that he prefers to see Palmer in the middle, almost free-roaming and trying to find space in between the lines. However, if he is to get the best out of Nkunku as well, then there needs to be some sort of tactical reshuffle.