The France international had an injury-disrupted first campaign as a Chelsea player after shining on last summer’s tour of the US. Nkunku played 14 times in total, scoring three goals in just over 500 minutes of football.

He showed glimpses of his undoubted ability and has now got to work under Maresca, who was asked in his first press conference as Chelsea head coach if he sees Nkunku as a false nine or as a creator.

‘He can play everywhere,’ replied Maresca. ‘He is one of the players who in these two weeks has done very, very well. He is already taking [on board] the way we want to play, which is really important.

‘These kinds of players can play as a winger, as an attacking midfielder, as a number nine, they can play in different positions,’ added Maresca.

‘What we are going to try to do is have players who can play in different positions. That is the way I see the forwards and it is the way I like to work every day, to try to improve players and help them play not only one position but in different positions.

‘Sometimes many players say, ‘I can play as a winger’ and that is just them. But I don’t think if you move them five or ten metres inside the pitch there are big changes.

'It is just a matter of needing to convince them and then they can adapt. If they are good players, they can play in different positions.’

One of the hallmarks of Maresca’s Championship-winning Leicester City team was the role his right-back, usually Ricardo Pereira, played.

He often came infield to bolster the midfield when the Foxes were in possession, much like Marc Cucurella did for us towards the end of last season.

Maresca is open to either his right-back or left-back fulfilling the role for Chelsea and he is using pre-season to experiment.

‘In these weeks we have tried different situations,’ he said. ‘We have tried Reece James inside. I watched his games when he was on loan [at Wigan] when he played in midfield and after watching some of those games in the summer, he can do that.

‘Malo [Gusto] is trying to do that and is doing fantastic, Marc can do that and we are trying different situations with different players who can do that.’

And tonight Chelsea supporters and others watching will see the first signs of Maresca’s thinking put into practice.

Tickets are still on sale for Chelsea versus Wrexham and for those not based in the U.S. or Canada – where domestic broadcast partners will show the game – you can stream it live on the official Chelsea website and app for £4.99.

The live stream on our website enables casting to smart TVs, while the Chelsea app exclusively features enhanced stats and event tracking. Broadcasting on both platforms begins 20 minutes before kick-off.

Click on the fixture button below now to purchase the live stream on the official Chelsea website and app.