Chelsea were 2-1 winners over Leicester City on Saturday afternoon and one man that had a big role to play in the result was Enzo Fernandez.
The Argentina star has been out of favour with Enzo Maresca in recent weeks with the new Chelsea boss preferring a midfield of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. However, Fernandez was given the opportunity to start against Leicester City on Saturday and the World Cup winner was the star at the King Power Stadium.
With 15 minutes on the clock, the midfielder would provide an assist for the opening goal of the contest as Nicolas Jackson produced a wonderful finish past Mads Hermansen in the Leicester net. An hour later, the 23-year-old would get on the scoresheet himself, which was the former Benfica star’s first of the season.
Nicolas Jackson opens the scoring for Chelsea!
It's one the Leicester defence won't want to watch back in a hurry ?
? @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/XFCnQ4oEl5
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 23, 2024
2-0 Chelsea!
Enzo Fernandez gets the goal but it's Nicolas Jackson involved again ?
? @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/kmasq0PjY2
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 23, 2024
The result takes Chelsea up to third in the Premier League standings and the performance of Fernandez has not only proven a lot of critics wrong, but it will also give Maresca a headache as the Argentina star will be hounding his boss every week to begin games from the off.
Since arriving at Chelsea at the start of 2023, Fernandez has not lived up to the £106.8m price tag the Blues paid Benfica for the World Cup winner and that has allowed Caicedo and Lavia to earn themselves starting roles in West London.
The Argentine footballer had also had personal issues throughout the start of the current campaign, which may have affected his concentration levels, while other clubs have shown an interest in buying the Blues talent.
The midfield duo has worked this season for Maresca and it would be silly for the Italian coach to change that after one influential performance from the Argentina star.
It is not easy keeping a £180k-per-week player on the bench in the Premier League and Fernandez could make a very strong case for himself if he continues to perform like he did against Leicester on Saturday.
The 23-year-old is a top player and consistency will result in Maresca being unable to leave him out of his team. For now, the new Chelsea boss needs to stick with Caicedo and Lavia as the duo have proven to be a great partnership during the opening phase of the 2024/25 campaign.
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