Mauricio Pochettino has admitted that he’s been very pleased with what he’s seen from Malo Gusto this season.

Gusto, who joined Chelsea from Lyon last year, has been brilliant as a right-back.

The 20-year-old was brought in to deputise for the injured Reece James, but he has now impressed both fans and Pochettino, who was full of praise for his contribution and assist during Monday’s 3-1 win at Crystal Palace.

The Chelsea boss told reporters in a post-match interview: “I think when we assess Malo Gusto, we brought Malo Gusto to try and compete with Reece James. He’s really, really young, but now with the injury of Reece James, he needs to play and play a lot and compete every single game.

“We can see also some good things and things he needs to improve because he is so young and in the first season in the Premier League. But yes, we are so happy, he was injured also during the season. We play a lot of games with Axel Disasi and Alfie [Gilchrist], using them, but yes, it’s his first season, he’s played a lot and we are happy.

“He is going to improve. But of course the competition with Reece James was what we wanted to push them to perform and be sure that we have two great players in this position. When you are so busy in the Premier League, or the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, helping and competing in a good level.”