Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is looking forward to meet with ex-teammate Ruud van Nistelrooy ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash against Manchester United, Afrosport reports.
The Blues will face the Red Devils at Old Trafford where they are yet to record a win since 2013.
Van Nistelrooy is currently the interim manager at United, with Ruben Amorim expected to take over fully this month.
Maresca and Van Nisterioy have some history together having played alongside the together at Malaga in 2012.
“I will give Van Nistelrooy a big hug before the game,” Maresca said.
“We expect a tough game. He’s a fantastic guy, humble, and very professional.
“We had a very good group of human beings at that time at Malaga.
” It’s nice to remember those moments.”
He added: “Hopefully, it’s a good time to play them [Man United]. It’s a really tough place to win and our recent record shows that.”
Maresca went on to shower some praises on Cole Palmer who has been bright this season with seven and five assists in 11 outings so far this campaign.
The Chelsea manager has decided not to expect too much from the player and allow him to ‘enjoy himself’.
“As I said at the start of the season, if we expect 20 goals and 20 assists from him again then that’s wrong,” he stated.
“We shouldn’t put that pressure on him. He needs to enjoy his football and when he does that you can see what he can do.
“Cole plays well even when he doesn’t score because he allows the rest (of the team) to play in the right way. He’s a very important player for us.”
Chelsea have recorded victories in four of their last six games. They sit sixth on the league standings while United have accumulated only 11 points in nine games after a poor start to life to the campaign as they wallow in 14th position.
