Chelsea Boss Enzo Maresca Breaks Silence on Fofana, Social Media Storm Amid Garnacho Arrival

Reports suggest Maresca believes players should be responsible for their online activity, citing the complexity of managing a squad's social media presence. This follows Wesley Fofana's Instagram controversy, attributed to his social media team.

London: Enzo Maresca will not ban Chelsea's players from social media after Alejandro Garnacho's impending move to Stamford Bridge raised questions about his online presence. Garnacho was at Chelsea's Cobham training ground on Friday to undergo a medical and finalise his £40 million ($54 million) switch from Manchester United. The 21-year-old winger's relationship with United manager Ruben Amorim soured when he was left out of the starting line-up for the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham in May. Garnacho cast doubt on his future at Old Trafford in a post-match interview and his brother Robert posted on Instagram that the Argentine had been "thrown under the bus" by Amorim. While on holiday in June, Garnacho posted a photograph of himself wearing an Aston Villa shirt with "Rashford" on the back, an undisguised endorsement of team-mate Marcus Rashford's decision to leave United, drawing an angry backlash from fans.

Maresca has long made known his disdain for social media, but said his hands are too full to spend time policing his players' online activity. "I'm not going to tell them don't use social media," he said. "They have family around them that can give them advice. "I have four kids and I try to give them advice, but if I need to give 25 more players advice it's too complicated. “Anyone can do what they want, anyone can say what they want. But at the end it's a matter of respect.” Maresca has already faced questions in the early weeks of the season relating to his players' online behaviour after defender Wesley Fofana removed all reference to Chelsea from his Instagram after he was left on the bench for the goalless draw with Crystal Palace on the opening weekend. The 24-year-old's agent has since said the page was undergoing changes courtesy of someone in his team and the player was not responsible.