I think we all watched Enzo Fernandez’s latest goal for his country with mouths wide open Tuesday night, what a screamer it was.
He was incredible for Argentina, granted against a terrible opposition. But he has been consistently and quietly doing this for Chelsea in the majority of the games he has played for us already. Enzo is the complete midfielder, and there has never been a doubt for me.
As I said when we signed him, £100m might soon end up looking like a bargain when you see how much is being touted for the likes of Jude Bellingham.
He’s always had goals in his locker, he’s always been a superb finisher given the chance.
The ‘issue’ is though, as a defensive midfielder, or a six, he has largely been quite restricted in terms of being able to get into goal scoring positions.
At Benfica he scored 4 goals in 29 appearances. But it was at River Plate where he notched up 12 goals in 51 appearances, and as a number six, that’s impressive stuff.
Whilst his starting position should be as a six, I do think that we also need to get him further up the pitch during out attacks, purely because he has this deadly edge of the box presence and he can arrive in perfect timing, just as he did for Argentina last night.
We need to put a more defensive-minded player next to him, or even behind him. I do think Enzo can also be a very good eight. But really, if we want to get the best out of him and use his best assets, then we also need him deep in possession and from build up, because he has that almost perfect ability to pick out a long pass and great vision from deep.
I do think N’Golo Kante coming back in could help unlock Enzo and allow him more freedom to join attacks, but Kante will need to stay disciplined. We know that he also likes to roam and hunt for the ball, so he would have to pick and choose when he does this and form a partnership with Enzo so they know when one sticks, the other goes, and vice versa.
But this is also one of the main reasons that I am campaigning for the need to sign a true defensive midfielder, one who knows the role inside and out and is that perfect profile of a destroyer and a ball-winner.
This will give Enzo complete freedom, knowing he has that profile behind him so he can go and work his magic in more advanced areas. The more you get Enzo on the ball, the more chances you will create as a knock-on effect.
