GUIU: FAN VIEW

With our next signing looking likely to be Chelsea striker Marc Guiu on a season-long loan deal, we spoke with Louis Beneventi of the Chelsea Echo podcast to get some information about what kind of player we are getting.

Are you surprised Marc Guiu has gone out on loan to another Premier League team, or were you expecting a loan spell abroad/in the Championship before he made the step up?

I’ll be very honest, I do worry about this move for him. I thought a move to the Championship would suit him more, and thought he’d go to Ipswich to replace Delap (they’re very similar). Of course, I’m going to be looking at this as what’s best for him and for Chelsea, and I’m not sure he’ll get the minutes to develop. That being said, I’m sure that there’ll be personal growth regardless, and he is a player who showed quality when he played last season. Raw, and unrefined, buts lots of energy and he played like he hated the grass with his physicality. I’m sure if he got the minutes, he’ll prove his value to the squad!

Guiu did well in the Conference League last season, scoring six goals in nine appearances, why wasn’t he given as many chances in the league, was that due to competition?

Definitely the case for him. Maresca rotated the squad a lot last year, and with Jackson and some more senior players in front of him, he wasn’t getting the minutes. That being said, when Jackson got injured a couple of days before deadline day, we thought we’d see more of him, even if Chelsea had dipped into the market like Maresca and the fans were crying out for. Then of course, he got injured on deadline day himself…

He suffered a hamstring injury in February that kept him out until May, would he have appeared in the knockout stages of the ECL had this not occurred?

It was a nasty injury. Not being very flexible myself to see a man do the splits with both legs at the same time hurt my soul on the deepest level. But again, he got that injury giving absolutely everything in that game, and if memory serves me right, he got that injury scoring! He definitely would have featured more, and I think showcased his quality against opposition that were just not up to his Barcelona and Chelsea schooled quality.

Do you see a future for him in the Chelsea team?

It’s tough to say with Chelsea. Given our transfer policy. Asking me that six months ago, it’s an emphatic yes. However, given that he now has Joao Pedro, Delap and Jackson ahead of him, I’m unsure. Maresca’s Swiss-army knife approach to players harms him a bit as well because he is simply an out-and-out striker. He’s still young though and I’m sure can adapt, but maybe his lack of “mailability” could help him in the long run. He’s shown a lot of promise, and runs his socks off whenever he’s played, and that can only favour him when he’s on-loan and if he gets an opportunity to showcase what he’s made of. Realistically though, Chelsea are hoping this will bump his value and the club can turn a quick profit on a sale.

Out of his goals for Chelsea so far, which one is your favourite?

I’ll be honest, a lot were tap-ins in the Conference League, so none particularly stand out (I know that makes me sound spoilt as a Chelsea fan… (and we absolutely have been over the past 20 years!). But saying that, we haven’t been blessed with reliable forwards for a long-time now. He showed a lot of promise in his overall game and that’s what I love the most about him.

What’s his best trait as a player?

His workrate. I know in Sunderland, you guys want people who will work hard for you and give everything they can, and Sparky Playdough (our affectionate nickname for him at the Chelsea Echo) will 100% give you that. He’s runs like his life depends on it, he throws himself about and he hassles backlines for fun. He’s an old-school centre-forward, and my inner Barclaysman absolutely loves that about him.

If you had to predict how many goals he’ll score for us next season, how many would you say?

Should he get the opportunities and the minutes, he’ll definitely get a handful. But given he has two players in the pecking order ahead of him, I’m not sure he’s going to get the opportunities!

Finally, is he able to contribute in ways other than just goals?

The Barclaysman-esque abilities he has just mean he’s a good all-rounder. Like I said above, he works so hard, and I think that is something in shorter supply up the table with positional play and Pep Guardiola’s impact of football at the elite level (I said it, who doesn’t sometimes love a bit of physicality and route one?). Sparky has that. You lump it, he’ll fight for it. You want him to annoy a centre-back, he will. He’ll work so hard for you if he’s loved and he will go into games with a point to prove. He’s a youngster with fire who was kicked out of Barca, came to Chelsea and showed flashes of what he can do. Should he get the regular minutes, he’ll get better and better, and show why he was one of Europe’s hottest properties.