Which Fernandez are Man City getting? Enzo more Chelsea box-crasher than River Plate playmaker on Etihad debut image
ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER – The travelling Coventry supporters could hardly contain their enthusiasm to boo Enzo Fernandez when he was his name was read out shortly before kickoff as one of the Manchester City substitutes.
Boy, were they in for a treat.
When the teams emerged in the Manchester sunshine shortly before 3 p.m., club record signing Fernandez was in the home starting line-up. Rumours that Nico O'Reilly had pulled up with a back injury after the warm-ups proved accurate.
Opposition fans found ample to dislike Manchester City since Sheikh Mansour's 2008 takeover. Most of those revolve around the as-yet-unresolved case with the Premier League over alleged financial irregularities, with regards to which the club denies wrongdoing. 115 reasons, if you like.
But the counterweight has tended to be, by and large, a likeable and wondrous parade of footballers. From Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Vincent Kompany, whose statues outside this stadium will soon be joined by Kevin De Bruyne, through to Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland today, it's often been hard not to warm to City's greatest players.
That's not to say they've all been a bunch of boy scouts. Such groups don't churn out trophy after trophy. The 2026-27 campaign was the first City started since 2013 without Fernandinho or Bernardo Silva in their ranks, leaving the space for a brilliant, combative midfielder who relishes the niggling snark in the weeds of elite sport.
Enter Fernandez, who for both Chelsea and Argentina over recent years has come across as a pantomime villain without the subtlety. Skulking into the starting line-up unnoticed isn't really his style.
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Fernandez took up a position high in the hosts' midfield line, alongside Cherki and roving full-back Josko Gvardiol when they had possession, with Elliot Anderson holding the fort behind them. Plenty of the conversation around Fernandez's £125m move to City, beyond that transfer fee, has revolved around how he might be used. Given City already have Cherki and Phil Foden to fill the central attacking midfield roles, perhaps we get to see a return of the deep-lying playmaker from his River Plate days.
But when they were together at Chelsea, Maresca gradually leant into Fernandez's box-crashing tendencies, and these were on display early in the piece as he darted towards a Cherki scoop to the back post before pursuing a raking, diagonal ball from Anderson.
A woeful misstep from Gianluigi Donnarumma, when he let an Abdukodir Khusanov backpass run under his foot almost gave Coventry the lead, before a similarly dreadful error by Antoine Semenyo gave Taiwo Awoniyi a chance on a plate that he thumped wide.
Those moments robbed Manchester City of their early poise, and Fernandez's response was to drop a little deeper, helping to knit together passes at the base of the midfield. When a player is dealing largely in single touches, popping the ball off around the corner, booing is difficult and the Coventry fans started to lose interest. Aside from singing about the Falkland Islands, as Brighton supporters did in the direction of Chelsea's Argentine players last week. We're on a chaotic and unseemly timeline in 2026.
Plenty of Fernandez's appeal can feel intangible at times. At his pre-match press conference, Maresca frequently called him "a winner". An unkind interpretation is that sort of shorthand glosses over moments like Ephron Mason-Clark unceremoniously shoving him off the ball in the 17th minute. Anderson strode back to put out that fire, part of a largely imperious performance from the England midfielder before Maresca's men became collectively ragged during the closing minutes.
Man City vs. Coventry stats
By that stage, it was 1-0 and Fernandez had a hand in the winning goal, sliding a pass down the right flank for Semenyo to dig out a wonderful first-time cross from the byline. Haaland headed home his third of the season gleefully at the far post.
Fernandez had earlier laid on Cherki to strike the post and had a couple of shots blocked, either side of Haaland drawing fine saves from Coventry goalkeeper Carl Rushworth.
After the break, Fernandez's most notable efforts remained in the attacking third, with a low cross cleared as Gvardiol charged in to pounce. He strayed offside when teeing up Haaland for a close-range finish and the Argentina star's last contribution of note was hooking a clearance out of his own box.
He was replaced in the 76th minute by Ayyoub Bouaddi, the Coventry fans contenting themselves with just the first syllable of the Moroccan teenager's surname. From that point, City were indebted to the exploits of a signing from last year who has not always made sense but comes up with those moments that label him a winner. Without Donnarumma's saves to thwart substitutes Loum Tchaouna and Ellis Simms, Coventry would have left with a point.
The fact that Lampard's team probably deserved it on the balance of second-half chances underlines that Fernandez has joined a work in progress, irrespective of the gleaming picture painted by three wins from three at the top of the Premier League table for Maresca's men.