Back in October, Maresca publicly criticised James for his failure to lead the side behind the scenes during his injury absence, admitting he “expected more” from a player who has been at the club since the age of six.

Chelsea won but were far from convincing and Enzo Maresca needs to have a long hard think about Reece James, who in one shocking moment showed he's still not really returned.

Enzo Maresca had forecast a flood of relief to arrive at 11pm on Monday night, marking the moment the January transfer window shut. In the end, it came an hour earlier than billed, with the full-time whistle of a hard-won, slightly fortuitous 2-1 victory over West Ham that sends his Chelsea side back into the top-four.

Maresca found disliked the distractions the transfer window brought but will be satisfied with the way Chelsea trimmed their squad

Blues squad does not look deep enough to return to the wholesale rotation policy that fuelled their excellent start to the season

Enzo Maresca has been urged to consider dropping Enzo Fernandez to find a better balance within Chelsea’s midfield. Chelsea returned to winning ways with a 2-1 win against London rivals West Ham on Monday,

Enzo Maresca will be able to make changes to the squad that Chelsea named for the competition back in September. UEFA rules state that clubs can add signings from the January window to their squads, but only once the league phase has been completed.