Enzo Maresca explains why he had to drop expensive Chelsea signing last season – and why it won’t happen again | OneFootball

Chelsea face Benfica in the Club World Cup tonight, making now the perfect time to take a look at Enzo Fernandez’s progress since joining the Blues from the Portuguese giants.

That’s just what we did yesterday, noting that Jacob Steinberg had put the turning point in Enzo’s career down to a single assist against Arsenal last year which proved a turning point for him.

Enzo Maresca praises Enzo Fernandez for adapting to his system

Enzo Fernandez points on the pitch. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

Today it was Enzo Maresca’s turn to speak about his namesake, who has gone from fringe player to key starter under the Italian coach.

“We’re very pleased with Enzo, especially because, first of all, he’s a nice boy, he’s polite, he’s a good boy. And then because with us, since we started, he’s working very well in all the aspects, inside the pitch, outside the pitch,” the manager explained.

Maresca expects strong start from Enzo in August

He insisted that the midfielder’s slow start was just down to him learning the system, and he expected him to hit the ground running in August:

“We said already many times that with us, this season’s struggle would be at the beginning to understand the way we want to play,” the former Leicester coach explained.

“But [since] then he’s doing fantastic, also in terms of numbers, goal assist. And this is what we want from our attacking players. I said many times that I prefer to have the attacking players score 10-12 goals each than just a striker with 40 goals. And Enzo, his contribution this season has been top, and for sure next season will be even better.”

Enzo has already been picking up goals and assists in the USA, and we expect more to come – perhaps even today, against his old club.