Christopher Nkunku revealed what Enzo Maresca’s message to him was before he made a telling impact in our win at Bournemouth on Saturday.

Nkunku chose a brilliant time to score his first Premier League goal of the season. He had only been on the pitch seven minutes when he weaved through the Cherries defence to put us in front with time running out.

It was quite some way for Nkunku to stamp his authority on proceedings, and he explained what was asked of him by his head coach when he replaced Nicolas Jackson.

‘He just said that we need quality in the box and we have ten minutes left so he said for me to enjoy,’ Nkunku disclosed.

‘It was good from Jadon [Sancho]. I felt like I had the space behind me, so I turned and I was a little bit lucky because I had three defenders there, but I scored.’

Nkunku’s goal will give Maresca plenty to think about ahead of our trip across London to play West Ham on Saturday. The Frenchman has begun each of our past three league fixtures on the bench, but he is doing everything he can to force his way into the starting XI.

‘We are in a big club and have big players,’ said Nkunku.

‘It is competitive in every position and we just need to work hard in every training session and in every game.’