Some of the transfer fees that have been flying about have been ridiculous, and Chelsea have not even joined the party yet!
Sandro Tonali has just joined Chelsea’s London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in a £100m deal, while Elliot Anderson recently moved to Manchester City for a slightly larger fee.
Spurs also signed Mateus Fernandes for £85m, which is a huge amount of money for a midfielder who just got relegated with his club.
Chelsea were slammed for how much they spent on Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, but their critics will not be saying much now and will turn their attention to the above names.
DEBATE: Bruno Guimaraes is a better all-round midfielder than Enzo Fernandez
Enzo Fernandez isn’t getting the respect he deserves in mad market
Amid some of these transfers, it feels like Fernandez is being a bit disrespected. For example, it was thought that Real Madrid only wanted to pay £85m for the 25-year-old before cooling their interest in him.
How could one of the Premier League’s finest midfielders go for the same amount as Fernandes and less than what Tonali and Anderson cost? He is better than all three players.
Fernandez’s ability to arrive in the box at the exact right moment before scoring a header or back-post tap-in sets him apart from the others. Simply put, his goalscoring ability makes him such a unique midfielder.
Last season, Fernandez scored 15 goals in 54 games across all competitions. Yes, the Argentine did play a lot of games as a No.10; however, his playing style still resembled that of a No.8.
Like Chelsea legend Frank Lampard, Fernandez was great at making late runs into the box before dispatching.
The Chelsea Chronicle recently ran a poll on who the best £100m midfielder is in the Premier League, and Fernandez came third.
One fan, though, was quick to remind everyone that Fernandez is “class”, and it is hard to argue with him.
That is not to say that Fernandez is better than Caicedo or Declan Rice, for example. But sometimes, he does not even get mentioned in the same conversation as the two.
Maybe it is because Fernandez has a much more attacking role and has played behind the striker. But on paper, he has always been a central midfielder.
The point is, in a market where midfielders are going for £100m, Fernandez deserves more appreciation. He was the first in England, has lived up to the hype in these last two seasons and has grown into a much better player. And let’s not forget he is also a World Cup winner. Give him his flowers.
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