Enzo Fernandez: Does £106.8m signing deserve to start for Chelsea? | OneFootball

Enzo Fernandez has scarcely been overlooked by the long list of Chelsea managers throughout his year-and-a-half in west London.

The £106.8m record-breaking arrival has started 50 of his 53 Premier League appearances since leaving Benfica in 2023. However, Fernandez was conspicuous by his absence from Chelsea's 2-1 loss to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

Despite the defeat, Enzo Maresca rightly hailed the performance which Fernandez mostly watched from the touchline as "one of the best of the season".

The Argentine international had been representing his country in Buenos Aires as recently as Wednesday, so started on the bench last weekend as a precaution. But there are growing rumbles that it would be better for Fernandez to remain on the sidelines.

What is Enzo Fernandez's best position?

Enzo Fernandez's versatility could be his undoing / Visionhaus/GettyImages

In the dark days of Frank Lampard's interim managerial spell at the end of the 2022/23 campaign, the Chelsea legend described Fernandez as "the most natural six out of a midfield which doesn't have so many natural sixes". The Blues have since signed Moises Caicedo as the defensive engine of the team, theoretically freeing Fernandez up to focus on his favourite part of the game.

"I've always felt comfortable playing near the goal," Fernandez told Ole while he was still at River Plate, "looking for pockets of space so I can create a chance or shoot."

Maresca wants his number eight to do both sides of the game. The Italian coach described Fernandez as a player who can "attack like an attacking midfielder and defend like a holding midfielder". This all-action role has taken the form of starting next to Caicedo in a 4-2-3-1 formation before pushing forward almost alongside Cole Palmer while the left-back - usually Marc Cucurella - tucks in centrally behind him when Chelsea have possession.

Enzo Fernandez's start to the 2024/25 season

Fernandez has had little discernible impact in the attacking third this season. The 23-year-old has taken just four Premier League shots, fewer than either of Liverpool's centre-backs Virgil van Dijk or Ibrahima Konate.

Maresca has noticeably shifted Fernandez further up the pitch. For the first time in his European career, as much as 30% of the playmaker's touches are taken in the final third - compared to 23% last term. Even though he finds himself in a more advanced role, Fernandez has not created an abundance of chances, averaging just 1.5 per 90 - a minor uptick from last season.

By trotting in front of the ball, Chelsea are robbed of Fernandez's probing passes in the buildup phase and his overall influence on each contest.

The Argentine infamously had more touches, registered more successful passes and made more tackles than any other player in the 2022 World Cup final. Fernandez is seeing nowhere near as much of the ball this season or contributing defensively, which helps explain his relative ineffectiveness.

Does Romeo Lavia deserve to start over Enzo Fernandez?

Romeo Lavia has impressed during his brief cameos for Chelsea this season / Visionhaus/GettyImages

Chelsea fans have only seen Romeo Lavia make two starts for the Blues since his £58m move in 2023, but their coach is far more familiar with the talented Belgian. Maresca oversaw Lavia's promotion from the under-18s to his Manchester City Under-23 team for the second half of the 2020/21 season. Coincidentally, the pair's first game together was against Chelsea four years ago.

After a pitiful 13 minutes across the entirety of last season, the injury-prone midfielder has impressed during his two starts this term - even if both contests ended in defeat. Lavia held his own in a central battle with the likes of Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Mateo Kovacic in the season opener against Manchester City, boasting more touches than all but one of his teammates during his time on the pitch.

While Lavia was overloaded against City, Maresca set the Blues up so that they constantly had numerical superiority on their trip to Anfield last Sunday. Hovering deeper alongside Caicedo, Lavia's natural defensive tendencies allowed Malo Gusto to wander into an attacking midfield position from left-back when Chelsea had the ball - something which would never happen with Fernandez.

Lavia is more concerned with maintaining possession than penetration - misplacing just three of his 71 passes this season (96% completion rate). Fernandez, by comparison, completes roughly 81% of his passes. This is more a question of style than success, but Maresca is at pains to stress how important "control" is. After boasting 58% possession at Anfield, Maresca said: "We don't like to drop points and lose a game, but if you have to choose a way this is the way."

Despite Lavia's obvious potential, the looming threat of injury haunts every outing - which explains why Maresca has not risked him for much more than an hour in each start.

For all Lavia's quality, there is little danger of Fernandez missing out for long. As Maresca said earlier this season: "He is doing very good with us and the idea is to continue with that." Not everyone would agree.