A debate that has been brewing for a long time is starting to really come to a head at Chelsea.
Enzo Fernandez is the most expensive signing in Premier League history, and was supposed to be the central piece of this Chelsea team for a decade. But despite being a player of undeniable quality, there’s been a struggle to find him a role that fits, in a variety of teams under a variety of managers.
After returning late from international break from Argentine he was given a rest against Liverpool two weeks ago. That then meant he played midweek in the Conference League, and was then benched again at the weekend as we beat Newcastle.
We would imagine he will play in the cup tonight, confirmed his demotion from A team to B team. Someone at Transfermarkt has crunched the numbers showing Chelsea’s performance with and without Enzo since he signed, and it’s not pretty.
You can see the numbers compared in the image embedded here:
Enzo stats don’t tell the whole story
First things first – this is not a fair comparison. Up until the Liverpool game, Enzo has been a first choice player since his arrival at the club.
That means those 66 games he started have largely been Premier League games and the tough end of knockout competitions. Meanwhile the 21 he’s missed have been the early cup rounds and other matches that his various managers have taken a chance to rest him in.
The fact that things have now flipped, and he’s going to be playing regularly in Conference League thrashings of no-hopers from the middle of nowhere should quickly reverse this table – although that will be no comfort to Enzo, or the people who spent £105m on him, of course.
