“It is a priority for me,” Enzo Maresca said of signing a new centre back in the wake of Levi Colwill’s crushing ACL injury.

That stance was repeated when Liam Delap went down injured against Fulham: “When you have two strikers, [two] is enough, when one of them is injured for weeks it is not enough.”

Maresca did not hide the fact the club did not share his desire to dip back into the transfer market to help his squad cope with injuries, openly admitting those in charge of recruitment wanted him to find internal solutions, but there was still hope among fans that the final stages of the window would provide a fresh face. Nicolas Jackson’s lucrative loan to Bayern Munich, which includes an obligation to buy worth £56.2 million ($76.1 million), appeared to open the door.

But Chelsea’s transfer chiefs held firm. There would be no blockbuster replacement for Jackson, only the return of the inexperienced Marc Guiu from Sunderland to help make up the numbers.

Deadline Day brought no new centre back, either. Despite Maresca’s desperate pleas to find a player capable of filling in for Colwill, whose role as a central defender is of particular importance to the Blues’ setup, the manager must now find internal solutions in a squad which he has openly admitted lacks the right sort of player profile.

Instead, the only new face greeting Chelsea fans as the window closed was Brighton and Hove Albion loanee Facundo Buonanotte, who has gone from playing a bench role with relegated Ipswich Town to being the only natural cover for Cole Palmer, of all people, in the space of just a few months.

Buonanotte feels like a typical Chelsea signing—high potential and excitement for the future—but he lands in a role in the squad which needs immediate results. Palmer is currently out injured and the recent 2–0 win over Fulham was, despite what the scoreline might suggest, a truly miserable performance which was illuminated only by the performance of João Pedro and the re-emergence of the machine that is an already booked Moisés Caicedo.

Alleviating the pressure on Palmer’s shoulders appeared to be recognised as a priority earlier this summer when Xavi Simons emerged as an increasingly likely signing. A deal for the Dutch midfielder seemed to be on a plate for Chelsea for months but, for whatever reason, the Blues declined to make a formal bid, allowing Tottenham Hotspur to swoop in and get a deal done.

Only time will tell whether passing on Simons in favour of one year of Buonanotte was the right call, with Maresca now tasked with addressing perhaps his three biggest areas of concern in the squad all on his own.

These are the sort of transfer decisions that can dictate the trajectory of an entire season. Granted, the best teams and the elite managers should be capable of navigating such setbacks, but that is the level of pressure which is now facing a Chelsea side still widely accepted to be a few pieces short of being genuine contenders for the Premier League title.

Make no mistake about it, Maresca has been blessed by a recruitment department willing to invest in the squad. Alongside Pedro and Delap, Chelsea have spent big on Alejandro Garnacho, Jamie Gittens and Jorrel Hato this summer, having also completed the pre-agreed arrivals of Estêvão and Dário Essugo and welcomed Andrey Santos back from loan. Most managers in England’s top flight can only dream of such free-spending support from above and to suggest he has been wronged by yet another investment of over £200 million would be incorrect.

Levi Colwill, Enzo Maresca
Maresca wanted extra cover for the injured Levi Colwill (centre). | Clive Mason/Getty Images

Unfortunately, it is at times like this in which Maresca’s limited involvement in recruitment—something he has praised in the past—becomes apparent. The sporting directors have addressed their areas of concern and left Maresca’s own questions unanswered.

The burden of justifying those decisions will fall to Maresca, who will be forced to face up to questions about the shortcomings of both his tactics and the quality of the squad if things start to turn sour, even though his feelings have already been made perfectly clear.

The international break comes at a welcome time for Maresca, who now has two weeks to work privately on a way to fill the clear holes in his squad before a trip to Brentford puts him right back under a spotlight he never wanted.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chelsea’s Underwhelming End to Summer Transfer Window Unfairly Ramps Up Pressure on Enzo Maresca.