Tribal Football

He doesn't fit: How long can Chelsea tolerate €120M Enzo as a permanent reserve?

Chris Beattie, Editor
He doesn't fit: How long can Chelsea tolerate 120M Enzo as a permanent reserve?
He doesn't fit: How long can Chelsea tolerate 120M Enzo as a permanent reserve?Profimedia
COMMENT: It's simple to read. It's easy to understand. Indeed, the manager has spelt it out. He just doesn't fit. For Enzo Fernandez, there's no place for the Argentine in Chelsea's midfield...

He's still getting a game. In the Carabao Cup defeat at Newcastle United last week, Enzo started and was handed the armband by manager Enzo Maresca. But for the matches that matter. Ie., the Premier League. As we say, his face doesn't fit.

Advertisement
Advertisement

For Sunday's 1-1 draw at Manchester United, it was the third consecutive league game that Enzo had started from the bench. With Romeo Lavia now fully fit, the Argentine has found himself on the outer. And the concerning thing for the player and his minders is that Maresca's choice hasn't been on form.

"First of all, it’s a matter of balance," stated the Blues boss last week, as he discussed his midfield setup, now benefitting from the availability of Lavia and the form revival of Moises Caicedo.

“In this moment, Romeo and Moises give us physicality, strength in the middle.

“Otherwise, when we play with Enzo, it has to be Enzo with one of Moises and Romeo. Then, when Enzo moves, we struggle a bit in the middle in terms of physicality. It is something that at the moment, Moises and Romeo give us."

As mentioned, this midfield structure is a simple one to read. Maresca wants two bruisers as his base. Players with a physical presence. Capable of putting their foot in and getting up and down the pitch. Caicedo and Lavia effectively acting as Maresca's two chosen destroyers to create the platform for Cole Palmer to do his stuff.

That's not to say Enzo can't stuck in. He has that in his game. But in terms of the physical requirements to win midfield battles at Premier League level, Maresca has made it clear that Caceido and Lavia offer him greater security.

“He is not playing in this moment," Maresca continued, when discussing Enzo, "but we have so many games and he is going to play for sure in the future. Now, he’s not playing.

“It doesn’t mean he’s not going to play in two days and it doesn’t mean that Romeo and Moises are always going to play. In the moment that one of them drop, we can change it.”

Essentially, Enzo is the odd one out. He'll be rotated in. But the Young Player of the '22 World Cup. The player who helped Argentina win in Qatar. Well, he's now been told: you're no first-choice.

For anyother player, it'd be a situation to accept. To dig in. And prove the manager wrong. But Enzo's situation isn't that of most players. He was an investment by Chelsea to the tune of €120m. Plus wages. A choice driven personally by Behdad Eghbali, the club's co-owner.

This wasn't in the script. And you do wonder how long it will be tolerated. Sure, Chelsea's midfield options are thin. But having a player who carries a €120m price-tag as a permanent reserve... realistically - for those inside the board room - it cannot last long-term.

And that's not counting on how Enzo and his camp will be taking this. The player can - and in Argentina they say should - play further forward. But as with Lavia and Caicedo, Maresca already has his schemer in Palmer. For Enzo, no matter the talent or potential, he just doesn't fit.

But that's at Chelsea. Maresca's Chelsea. Beyond Stamford Bridge, Enzo's reputation remains intact and it's no surprise club intermediaries are already making enquiries. Barcelona have been mentioned. Inter Milan too. And they won't be alone. Maresca may be unable to make it work. But managers up and down Europe would love to count on a player of Enzo's qualities. 

This is no knock on Maresca. He has his system and it's working. It's simply a case that Enzo, for what he can offer, doesn't fit.

"I think it's very, very difficult," Maresca stated at the start of the season, "in the way we play to find a midfielder that can attack like an attacking midfielder and defend like a holding midfielder. For instance, Arsenal is using Declan Rice, playing on the ball as an attacking midfielder and defending like a holding midfielder, City in the past have done with (Ilkay) Gundogan; attacking like an attacking midfielder and defending like a holding midfielder."

Basically, Maresca is seeking that complete midfielder. But, for the moment, it's something he doesn't have. And instead he's juggled to find a three-man solution for a two-man job. And it's working.

Simple to read. Easy to understand. But it does nothing for Enzo. Nor does it help justify the investment made in him. Chelsea cannot have a €120m player acting as a permanent reserve. And it's something Europe's biggest clubs are already indicating they're aware of.