Enzo Fernandez moved to the Premier League for £105 million in 2023, swapping Lisbon for London as a freshly minted World Cup winner and its Young Player Award winner. His stock was high and his asking price was even higher.
Chelsea paid up and brought one of the world’s most exciting players to Stamford Bridge from Benfica. Less than two years later, Fernandez could soon be on the move once more.
A difference of opinion between manager Enzo Maresca and Chelsea officials might speed up the departure of a player whose big-money transfer hasn’t quite worked out as planned.
Chelsea’s higher-ups are said to be concerned about an expensive asset being sidelined despite the Blues settling into the season rather nicely. Maresca didn’t decide to pay Fernandez’s fee and he’s not afraid to say so.
“If you pay £100m that is not my problem,” he said. “There is no problem with Enzo. The noise about Enzo is because clubs pay so much money for them, people expect they will always be the best. That is not so.”
“The only reason [Fernandez] is not playing is just because the physicality I prefer is from [Moises] Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.”
Now, Spanish outlet Fichajes are reporting that Chelsea are already lining up a replacement for Fernandez in Pablo Barrios of Atletico Madrid – though the Blues already have enough depth to cope without the Argentine.
Maresca’s alternative options in the centre of midfield have less impact in attacking areas than Fernandez but offer the physical balance the manager needs to free up Cole Palmer, who creates more than enough in the final third to justify the counterweight.
Building a balanced midfield to deliver on a cohesive strategy is out of character for the Blues under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital but the results speak for themselves. After years of chaos, Chelsea have started 2024/25 in fine form and sit in fourth in the Premier League table after ten games.
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Fernandez was an expensive acquisition but is, tactically, the odd man out. A player of his ability will be an attractive target for plenty of teams in January but there’s only one team with Cole Palmer and it just happens to be the one that makes Fernandez a square peg in a round hole.
The Argentina international has started six Premier League games this season, all of them as captain, but the number of minutes he’s played has declined sharply since the international break.
Chelsea have lost to Liverpool, beaten Newcastle United and drawn with Manchester United in the three matches Fernandez hasn’t started when available. If Maresca is questioning his impact and Boehly doesn’t want an asset drifting out of the team, being receptive to offers is the only logical outcome.
With a contract worth a reported £180,000 per week and running all the way to 2032, it’ll take some financial heft to extricate Fernandez from the Chelsea bench. He doesn’t come without a little controversy either.
The Blues will be in Premier League action on Sunday when Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge.
