Enzo Fernández has been one of Chelsea’s marquees signings under the Clearlake Capital era, signing for a reported fee of approximately £106million in January 2023. Fernández had been a key part of the Argentina World Cup winning squad and was poised to be installed into the Chelsea midfield for the long term, adding deep lying creativity and a box-to-box presence to the middle of the pitch.
However, almost two years later, Fernández has found himself at a bit of a crossroads at Stamford Bridge and his long-term future is suddenly up in the air. With Moisés Caicedo becoming one of the most influential midfielders in the Premier League and Enzo Maresca seemingly preferring his partner to be the more dynamic Roméo Lavia at the moment, where the 23-year-old goes next, is currently up for debate.
No Time to Panic
Whilst Fernández is currently out of the first team, it’d be premature to claim that his time at Chelsea is coming to an end. He’s amassed 10 appearances in the Premier League so far, contributing just one assist alongside some inconsistent performances. Curiously, Fernández was given the captaincy at the start of the season, with Reece James on the sideline, which seemed to indicate the midfielder being a key part of Maresca’s plans for the upcoming season.
Across the next few months though, Fernández’s lack of athleticism and energy in the middle of the park has become apparent, with many questioning whether he has the capacity for the fast-paced nature of the Premier League. With Lavia returning to full fitness (and being a sizable monetary investment himself), Maresca has opted to pair him alongside Caicedo in recent matches, and the pairs’ performances have been very impressive.
Fernández has found himself relegated to Maresca’s ‘B-team’, but this is where he has been able to put together his most impressive performances so far, including a hattrick of assists in the UEFA Conference League match against FC Noah. When considering Lavia’s injury track-record, and a very busy fixture period of games coming up, Fernández is more than likely to be given opportunities in the first eleven once more.
Lingering Off-field Issues
It’s hard to discuss Fernández without addressing the videos that surfaced of the Argentinian over the summer. Fernández live-streamed himself and some Argentinian teammates chanting a song that was racist and discriminatory towards black players, specifically to those from Frances. Unsurprisingly, this wasn’t well received within the Chelsea camp, with the likes of Wesley Fofana and Axel Disasi particularly critical of the Argentinian. This made Maresca’s decision to hand Fernández the armband even more questionable.
Whilst Fernández issued a full apology, which was rumoured to have been accepted by the Chelsea squad, and Reece James acting as club captain to address the issue and draw a line past it, the long-term affect of the issue is yet to be known. It’s not beyond doubt that this could cause longstanding trust issues among the squad, and a squad which isn’t fully together or that does not fully respect each other is going to struggle on the pitch.
A Pivotal 2025 Awaits
As we move into the festive period with games coming thick and fast, it remains to be seen how big an impact Fernández can have on the pitch. He will be given minutes to show what he can do and will be looking to replicate the form that earned him such a high profile move all those months ago. But with such a heavy price tag, Chelsea are likely to have to stand by their substantial investment, and will hope their trust and patience can be rewarded with performances on the pitch, and any off-field issues can be a thing of the past.
