Enzo Maresca has revealed why Enzo Fernandez has lost his place in Chelsea’s starting line-up in recent games.
It comes after Fernandez, 23, split from his high school sweetheart Valentina Cervantes to live on his own – despite having a daughter and son together.
Fernandez has had to settle for a place on the bench in Chelsea’s last two Premier League matches against Liverpool and Newcastle. It remains to be seen what his involvement will be against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.
The midfielder has attracted flak since Chelsea signed him from Benfica for a British record £107million in 2023. TalkSPORT presenter Rory Jennings recently claimed he ‘should never play for Chelsea again’ and that he may be the ‘worst’ signing in the Premier League is. history.
But Maresca has great sympathy for Fernandez’s struggle to live up to his price tag, not least given the turmoil in his personal life.
Enzo Fernandez has lost his place in Chelsea’s starting line-up in recent league games
Manager Enzo Maresca insists there is ‘no problem’ and he does not expect the young midfielder to justify his £107m price tag so consistently
Fernandez recently split from his high school sweetheart and mother of his children, Valentina Cervantes
Cervantes (left) followed Fernandez (right) to London when he joined Chelsea last year
“They are people and if you pay £100m that is not my problem,” Maresca said on Sunday afternoon ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Manchester United.
‘If you want to buy me, you pay that money. That doesn’t mean you have to be the best at every game. After all, they are footballers and they cannot always perform at the highest level.
‘At the moment Enzo is not playing, but there is no problem with Enzo. The noise around Enzo is because clubs pay so much money for them that people expect them to always be the best. That’s not true.
‘The only reason he’s not playing is because the physicality I prefer is that of (Moises) Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.’
Fernandez captained the Blues in the opening weeks of the season but has lost his place.
Caicedo and Lavia have become Maresca’s main partners, while Fernandez has recently had to settle for starts in the Carabao Cup and Europa Conference League, despite coming off the bench in the Premier League.
It’s been a turbulent time for the Argentinian star following his split from long-term girlfriend Cervantes.
Cervantes followed Fernandez to Benfica when he joined the Portuguese club in 2022, then moved to London to join her partner when he signed for Chelsea last January in a deal worth £107 million. But just over 18 months later, the couple have decided to go their separate ways.
The couple had been together for several years after meeting in their home country Argentina, but have now gone their separate ways
Maresca prefers the physicality of Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo in the middle of the park
Fernandez is going through a difficult time at Chelsea after being dropped from Enzo Maresca’s starting XI
Cervantes announced the end of their relationship on Thursday, writing on Instagram: ‘With Enzo we distance ourselves from each other today. But we will always be family and support each other through everything. Because there are two children in the middle who need a lot of our love for them.
‘I know the person and the excellent father Enzo, and the heart he has. And that’s enough for me. They don’t want to create wars that don’t exist.’
Cervantes’ statement shows that there was an amicable split, while an Argentinian journalist has provided more details about the rift surrounding X.
Julieta Argenta wrote: ‘He told her he wanted to live on his own. They are still family, but he feels the need to experience the phase he skipped by choosing family early on.’
Fernandez now faces a battle to return to Chelsea’s strongest XI after failing to live up to expectations since arriving in England. He currently has a modest return of just seven goals and six assists in 74 Chelsea appearances.