There were certainly a small section of Chelsea fans who had given up on the hope that Enzo Fernandez could become a superstar at Stamford Bridge.
After smashing their transfer record in January 2023 to bring in the newly-crowned World Cup winner, plenty were hoping for their fortunes to instantly turn around.
Fast forward to earlier this season though, and pundits such as Darren Bent were claiming that Chelsea’s best midfield duo was Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Aston Villa FC at Stamfo...
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Since coming back into the Blues side in November, Fernandez has been performing superbly, with the notable improvements being in his goal contributions.
He has a combined ten goals and assists in his last eight Chelsea games, however he has improved in other areas too.
Fernandez has donned the captain’s armband for the majority of this season off the back of more injury woes for Reece James.
Mauricio Pochettino didn’t think Enzo Fernandez was physical enough for Chelsea
His season so far is unrecognisable from the player who was featuring last season when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge.
Fernandez found himself outside the usual midfield two at the end of the prior campaign, with Conor Gallagher being preferred in what turned out to be his final games at Stamford Bridge.
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After he was sacked, it was revealed by The Athletic that Pochettino had doubts about Fernandez having the physicality to feature in the Premier League, and the duo with Caicedo ever working out.
It is arguable that the Chelsea midfield has been the highest performing in the Premier League so far this season,
What Enzo Maresca has said about Enzo Fernandez
Enzo Maresca made the decision to take Fernandez out of his starting side earlier this season, with him picking up some criticism for his displays.
However, after bringing him back in he was delighted with his response, saying he was an example to other players for how to recover their form.
He said to the Chelsea website: “Enzo is a very good example. Noni is the same. Even when they were not playing, they were doing the right things. It was my decision to leave them out but it wasn’t because they were training badly or the behaviour wasn’t right. It was simple technical decisions.”
“Sometimes, when you leave out players you hurt them and motivate them to give something extra, but Enzo can be a good example for the rest. We have more players who were out at one moment but when they played did very well.”
Fernandez will be hoping he can return to the scoresheet on Boxing Day when the Blues host local rivals Fulham on Boxing Day.
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