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Enzo Maresca wants Enzo Fernandez at Man City - could it work?

Updated: 23 May 2026 15:37 BST | 5 min read

Enzo Fernandez, Enzo Maresca, Man City

Tom Weber

Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

Incoming Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca is keen to reunite with his former Chelsea favourite Enzo Fernandez.

This rumour, which had been doing the rounds for a couple of weeks, has been confirmed by reporter Florian Plettenberg. Maresca, who is set to replace his former mentor Pep Guardiola at the helm of Man City, wants to raid his ex-club, Chelsea.

Fernandez is the apple of the Italian's eye. He is keen to bring the Argentina international to the Etihad this summer after forging a strong relationship with him during their time together at Stamford Bridge.

The 25-year-old became one of Chelsea's captains and played his best football under Maresca. Fernandez joined Chelsea for €121 million in January 2023 with the express aim of winning silverware. He only achieved this under the 46-year-old.

Maresca's sudden departure from Chelsea on 1 January left Fernandez shocked and disillusioned with the club's project. The midfielder considered it to be a major setback and started mulling over his future. He has since publicly flirted with Real Madrid, while PSG also admire him.

Fernandez to Man City - could it work?

You would think that the appointment of Xabi Alonso as Chelsea's new manager - not head coach - will have alleviated some of the concerns Fernandez had over the club's ambitions, but Maresca's interest in bringing him to City will be tempting.

Whether a deal is feasible, though, is a completely different question. For one, Chelsea are likely to be asking for a fee in the region - or in excess of - €100m. This could make a deal tricky, given that City also need major signings in other areas of the pitch.

Enzo Fernandez

It could, however, be a worthwhile investment. With captain Bernardo Silva departing, Fernandez would be a logical replacement, even if he favours the left side of the pitch as opposed to the Portuguese's preference for the right.

Much like Silva, though, Fernandez likes to roam and drift into spaces in the attacking third. Maresca gave him the freedom to do exactly that at Chelsea, and the Argentine repaid his coach's faith with 15 goals and 19 assists in 79 games.

Fernandez is no longer considered untouchable by Chelsea, but would they really sell to a direct rival? They've done it before with Mason Mount joining Man Utd and Noni Madueke moving to Arsenal, but, with all due respect, Fernandez is on another level.

If a move were to materialise, it would certainly leave a bitter taste at Chelsea. On the footballing side, it is difficult to predict how Fernandez would fit into the Man City side with 100% certainty.

That's because we simply don't yet know what exactly Maresca will do. We can make some educated guesses based on what he did at Chelsea, but he will surely tweak things depending on the available personnel.

Should he sign Fernandez, it is clear that Maresca would make the Argentine the heartbeat of City's midfield. Currently, though, there are some question marks over his suitability for the Premier League runners-up, as per data analytics firm SciSports.

Enzo Fernandez compared to other Premier League midfielders

The SciSports Career Advice tool, which can obviously only analyse the current Guardiola-coached City, believes that Fernandez would only be a middling stylistic fit at present. This, of course, is liable to change with Maresca in charge.

With the Italian at the helm, things would look quite different. SciSports rates Fernandez as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League this season, so it is difficult to imagine that he would struggle to fit into the City team.

Look away, Chelsea fans, but Fernandez to Man City makes perfect sense.