Enzo Fernandez responds to Enzo Maresca message as Chelsea star delivers on five-word promise

"I want to get back there," were the words of Enzo Fernandez in April as he reflected on the level he was at personally during Argentina's 2022 World Cup success.

It was a breakthrough tournament for the then 21-year-old, whose performances in the centre of midfield turned him from a fairly unknown quantity to one of the most sought-after midfielders in world football. It was no surprise that Chelsea relentlessly pursued him in the following January transfer window.

"I'm trying to get back there, to the version of me that you saw at the World Cup," Fernandez explained to Chelsea's official website earlier this year. "I want to feel like that Enzo, that was playing at the World Cup.

"I feel good, getting better each day, but I still don't feel I'm at 100%. I'm still adapting and still don't feel entirely myself, but I'm trying to get there as quickly as possible and working hard every day in order to do so.

"It won't be easy because the World Cup has been and gone, and I'm still growing as a player and developing my skills, but I'm looking for that Enzo. I want to feel completely myself again."

There was, however, a surprise about how much the Blues ended up paying for Fernandez. For someone that had just turned 22, Chelsea dished out £106million for the Argentine's services - a British record at the time, only to be surpassed by the £115million the Blues spent on Moises Caicedo the following summer.

And it has not been smooth sailing for Fernandez at all since arriving for such big money. In the first few months of his time at Stamford Bridge, Fernandez was a revelation despite the side being in dire form under the likes of Graham Potter and Frank Lampard.

However, under his compatriot Mauricio Pochettino the next season, Fernandez looked out of sorts for the most part. He looked as if he was playing with an injury, not 100% fit, and it turned out he had been competing through the pain barrier when he had surgery on a groin problem that ruled him out for the final part of the campaign.

Then, at the start of this season under a new head coach in Enzo Maresca, people once again started to question how the Argentina international fits into the system in west London. In less than two years, Fernandez went from starring in a World Cup triumph with his country to having his starting position within a young Chelsea side questioned.

Maresca wants Fernandez to act as a box-to-box midfielder with Caicedo sitting in a more defensive position behind him. Finding the balance, though, was the problem the head coach had with his midfielder at the start of his tenure at Stamford Bridge.

"I think it's very difficult in the way we play to find a midfielder that can attack like an attacking midfielder and defend like a holding midfielder," Maresca said back in September. "For instance, Arsenal are using Declan Rice as an attacking midfielder on the ball and as a holding midfielder when defending. Manchester City, in the past, have done this with Ilkay Gundogan.

"In our case, we are trying to find the balance and find the players who can give us this kind of solution. At the moment, Enzo is the only one. When we have the ball, he is playing like an attacking midfielder and is dropping next to Moises when we don't have the ball to help us and give us defensive balance.

"In the first game [vs Man City], we used Romeo [Lavia] and Moises as holding midfielders, but Enzo in this moment is playing on the ball as an attacking midfielder and off the ball as a holding midfielder. He is doing very good with us and the idea is to continue that."

It is almost as if Fernandez is being asked to play in two different positions. That in itself is very difficult and that is why it was understandable he was struggling at the start of the season but in the last few matches, Fernandez is beginning to adapt and is delivering with goals and assists.

Arriving late inside the box against Leicester City at the weekend, Fernandez pounced on a loose ball after Nicolas Jackson's header was saved. The Argentine got himself in a great position and then had the relatively simple task of heading the ball into the net from close-range because of his positioning - something Maresca was delighted with at the end of the match.

"Enzo did really well today," the Blues head coach said at full-time. "He is doing very well since we started. The same as I said many times for Joao Felix, the problem is it depends on the game-plan; we use different kind of players.

"Today I thought was the right game to use Enzo even if he was back from international duty [late]. I think he did very well.

"I'm trying to convince Enzo in the same way as I did last year with [Wilfried] Ndidi and Kiernan [Dewsbury-Hall] that attacking midfielders need to arrive in the box. The reason why he scored today was because he was inside the box and if he was outside of the box, he wouldn't have scored the goal. We are happy in the way Enzo is doing."

In his last three outings for Chelsea in all competitions, Fernandez has registered five assists - with three against FC Noah and one each versus Arsenal and Leicester - and has now scored one goal. There is still plenty more to come from Fernandez but there has certainly been some improvement over the last few matches for the Blues.

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