“I’m here to fight for my place at Chelsea”, “Not afraid of you” – Chelsea star sends clear message to 24-year-old Chelsea teammate
Chelsea’s right-back Malo Gusto has demonstrated that he is not scared to challenge Reece James for the starting right-back position.
Though the Chelsea captain has struggled with injuries over the past year, James is still regarded as the best player in the world on his best days.
Malo Gusto has acknowledged his admiration for Reece James while announcing that he is prepared to face James upon James’s return.
“Reece is a big player. One of the best players in this position,” Gusto told The Athletic. “It’s not good for the team [that he is out injured] as Reece is the captain and it’s not good for everyone in the club. But me, I have to be ready and take every chance.
“We talk a lot. I try to help him, he tries to help me as well. It’s a good competition between him and me. We are not similar (as players), but when we are on the pitch we try to help the team, keeping a good mentality, to score and to assist. That’s what we have to do.”
With James not due back until March, Gusto will once again start for Chelsea in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Liverpool, and he can only dream of lifting the trophy.
“This trophy can be good for this young team,” he continued. “To show everyone we are not just young. We are young but, on the pitch, it’s not about how old you are, you know? You have to keep pushing, game after game.
“[It helps] we live the same thing together, because we are all young. We try to help each other every day. We talk a lot. It’s good to stay with people like you – it will be nice for the future. [Winning a trophy] can be nice for our mentality, to help us become better until the end of the season. We have to keep working to show the fans we are Chelsea and we need to win everything.
“We have to take the opportunity. We don’t have a choice. We have to win every game. We are young, but it is not an excuse. We have a lot of quality and we want to win everything. This is a good opportunity for us to improve.
“But [the season] is not finished after this game. We have another one in the FA Cup. We have the Premier League as well – we have to keep moving forward, to keep a winning way.
“Maybe we did not start the season very well, but we have to finish well. That is what we will try to do.”