‼️The main issue for Fernández since his arrival from Benfica in January 2023 has been physicality. The passing ability is obvious, but is he robust enough for the Premier League? Mauricio Pochettino, Maresca’s predecessor, had his doubts. Chelsea struggled to make the partnership between Caicedo and Fernández work last season.
Restricting Caicedo to the role of Fernández’s bodyguard was wasteful. For all the hype, the latter’s creative output has not been high enough to justify building the midfield around him. Fernández’s return of seven goals since joining Chelsea is poor, he does not have an assist in the league this season and the wider metrics are not positive: the 23-year-old is not creating big chances, his tackle success rate is 39% and his passing output has declined.
(Jacob Steinberg)
@chelseafooty01
‼️Chelsea has progressed a lot in a short space of time. They opened the season with Caicedo, Fernández and Lavia starting in midfield, with Cole Palmer shunted to the right wing, but Maresca has succeeded by altering his approach. Fernández, quite simply, has never done enough to justify playing as the most advanced midfielder. Maresca soon restored Palmer to the No 10 spot, and Lavia, who sat out a few games through injury, has not needed long to take one of the deeper spots away from Fernández.
It is a conundrum for Chelsea, given they paid so much for Fernández. In time, they may be forced to cut their losses on him. They are already thinking about where Andrey Santos will fit in when the 20-year-old Brazilian returns from his increasingly impressive loan at Strasbourg.
(Jacob Steinberg)
@chelseafooty01