Fernandez burst onto the world scene at World Cup 2022, brought in to bolster Argentina, who had fallen to a shock defeat by Saudi Arabia in the opening stages.
The midfielder helped his side to the World Cup in Qatar and has since won several trophies in West London with Chelsea, such as the Club World Cup and Conference League.
Fernandez dreams of leading his country
The 24-year-old is now pushing for his country to lift the World Cup once more, for the first time since Brazil recorded back-to-back World Cup wins in 1958 and 1962.
Speaking this week, Fernandez told GIVEMESPORT that he dreams of taking Messi’s role of captaining Argentina and leading his country to glory.
“On a personal level, of course, I dream of captaining Argentina, but that decision doesn’t come down to me. It’s up to the coaching staff. Of course, I dream of being the Argentina captain.
“I don’t know when it might be. Time will tell, and it’s up to the coaching staff to make the decision. It’s certainly one of my dreams, and I’d be honoured to wear the captain’s armband.”
Argentina will defend their title
Fernandez also opened up on defending their title in what will be Messi’s last World Cup for his country in what will be an emotional end.
“We’ll try to defend it and win it again, which is what this national team must do. The Argentine people are so passionate and we always want more. Our mentality is that we deserve to defend our World Cup crown and have a great tournament, which means winning it.”
“Winning the World Cup is in the past now, and we are focused on what lies ahead. We know it could be Messi’s last World Cup, so we’ll aim to defend our crown from Qatar as a team. We’ll do our best to retain it.”