Sancho, the 25-year-old winger on loan from Manchester United, has been a ray of hope for Chelsea lately, scoring one goal and setting up three more in his last three games across all competitions.

Maresca seems to be more concerned with the here and now, rather than fretting about the future. He's unsure about Sancho's long-term plans at the club, admitting as much to journalist Ben Jacobs: "All we've told Jadon, and all our attacking players, is that we need more – more goals, more assists.

"Sancho, as you've seen in recent games, is doing better. But we need more from Nico (Jackson), more from Cole (Palmer), more from Noni (Madueke), more from Pedro (Neto), more from Enzo (Fernandes) as well.

Maresca then addressed Sancho's future, as well as that of on-loan wonderkid Andrey Santos.

"As for Sancho, it's the same as with Andrey Santos. At the moment, I'm not peeking at all into next year or the players who might be here next year. I'm just focusing on how we can end this season with a bang.

"Regarding Santos, we know he's doing well. Right now, we're just focused on how we wrap up this season. Once we do, we'll start thinking about next season."

Chelsea have a £25 million obligation to buy Sancho from Manchester United but could reportedly extricate themselves from the deal for a mere £5 million.