Chelsea splashed a reported £106.8 million to sign Enzo Fernandez from Benfica back in January 2023, just six months after he joined the Portuguese side from River Plate, and for a while, that price tag hung over him like a dark cloud.
Now, nearly three years after joining, the 24-year-old is starting to look every bit like a player that should cost over £100m. Under Enzo Maresca, his game has been honed to a level that his key to driving Chelsea forward.
Are you Frank Lampard in disguise?
It’s rare for Fernandez to miss a game for Chelsea, since joining he’s already made 125 appearances, although a knee injury picked up while on international duty with Argentina may end up keeping him out of the side for a little while, at least.
Fernandez has been handed a heavy workload by Maresca; not only does he have to impact the game in the final third, but the midfielder also needs to put in a defensive shift alongside partner Moises Caicedo, in fact, he’s made the third highest number of tackles in the Premier League at Chelsea with 14.
As a result of having a more box-to-box role under the Italian than he did under Mauricio Pochettino during his first full season in West London, the Argentinian is starting to look a lot like a certain English midfielder.
Fernandez leads Chelsea in both goals and assists since January, with a total of 19 goal contributions. His close-range strike in the 5–1 win against West Ham appeared to show an important strength he’s developed in his more advanced role.
After Estevao wriggled past a couple of West Ham defenders, he looked up to see Fernandez, who had made a penetrating run into the opposition’s six-yard box. He couldn’t miss, and Chelsea were 3-1 up.
Over the course of the first three games in the Premier League, no player made more of these runs than Fernandez with 15. Over his seven appearances so far, Fernandez also has the highest xG at Chelsea with 3.75, so he’s clearly getting into the right positions.
He still has some way to go if he wants to reach Lampard-esque numbers, and honestly, he probably never will do, the Chelsea legend was somewhat of an anomaly. Fernandez sit as Chelsea’s current top Premier League goal scorer, however, with three.
A much-needed leader
For the second season in a row, the Chelsea squad have the lowest average age in the Premier League at 23.2 years old. With such inexperience comes an inevitable lack of leadership and hard-earned knowledge of how to get a result with their backs against the wall.
Fernandez is one of a few players in that squad to have done it at the very highest level, playing a key role in Argentina’s 2022 World Cup win, picking up the FIFA World Cup Young Player Award along the way.
With Reece James’ fitness still inconsistent at best, it should come as no surprise that Fernandez is the man who has been handed the arm band. His body language on the pitch clearly show’s he’s willing to run through a wall for the club.
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni recently spoke about how Fernandez’s leadership has developed since joining Chelsea, saying: "There are many footballers here in that role. It's clear Enzo, because of his age, is destined to be a player who will stay for many years. We appreciate very much that he has stayed at Chelsea and that he's the emblematic player of Chelsea, a great club."
Verdict
Several reports have linked Fernandez with a move to Real Madrid next summer, although it feels unlikely the Spanish giants would be willing to fork out the fee needed to lure him away from Chelsea.
Fernandez is now an undisputed key player for Maresca’s side. It took a lot of time and money to get him into this position, and neither party will want that to change any time soon.