Enzo Maresca discovers Cole Palmer Chelsea solution as £30m transfer reality becomes clear

"I was sick of getting the ball and going backwards or sideways," the ever-candid and brutally honest Cole Palmer said last month following Chelsea's Conference League final triumph over Real Betis.

After a bleak first-half for the in Wroclaw, Palmer took the final by the scruff of the neck in the second period - producing two fine assists in a tournament-winning contribution from the 23-year-old. Palmer was clearly frustrated with the way his side were playing in Poland and knew something had to change.

Those comments seemed to bemuse a bit, who was unsure why was not taking the initiative from the first whistle. Following Chelsea's FIFA Club World Cup win over Los Angeles FC on Monday, Maresca opened up on a conversation he had with the Blues' new No.10.

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"I had a conversation with Cole and I said to him that I really like the way he was in terms of taking responsibility, taking the initiative on the ball," Maresca explained. "He was trying even on our side to receive the ball, trying to go one versus one against the player. This is the Cole that we expect.

"After the Conference League final he said that he was quite bored receiving the ball and so he decided to do something different. The day after that interview I said to him, I said, 'but you can do that since the first minute, why are you waiting so long? Why are you waiting? Why don't you do the same after one minute?'

"Today he was doing exactly what we asked him to do. We are happy when he does that because I said many times that Cole is our best player, he is a top player and hopefully he can continue to do the right things."

Palmer did look bright on Monday, at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The former Manchester City man was helped by the introduction of on 64 minutes in Georgia, with the two reuniting following their days together at the Etihad Stadium.

There were a couple of instances during their short time together on the pitch where Palmer looked to set the ever-energetic Delap away. The new Chelsea No.9, from Ipswich Town earlier this month, is a livewire for opposition defenders; constantly looking to run in behind and create an opportunity for his side.

Chelsea supporters have come out of Monday's Club World Cup opener excited for the future with Delap, who replaced around midway through the second-half in Atlanta. , setting up for the opening goal of the game, but will not have it all his own way at Stamford Bridge from now on.

Up until now, Jackson has been Maresca's go-to in the No.9 role, but with Delap's arrival, competition for the spot is fierce. "I'm encouraged to see how Nico reacted to that," Maresca said post-match. "Last season, it was him with Marc Guiu, who is very young, so I am quite encouraged to see how Nico is going to deal with competition.

"Both are very good No.9s and hopefully they both can score goals and assist like today because I prefer to have four or five who score 10 or 12 goals each rather than one striker who scores 40 goals.

"Last year, we tried to use different threats, a different weapon. Also we had two, three months without Nico, without Guiu. We tried to find different solutions, but when you have two strikers like Nico and Liam, it is a good feeling because you know you can choose one of them and it'll be a good choice."