Even though Chelsea’s form has been majorly inconsistent in 2025, Enzo Fernandez has emerged as a real favourite under Enzo Maresca.
It’s a testament to the recent form of Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez that he’s started 20 of the club’s previous 21 games in the Premier League, only missing one match because of an injury knock.
Blues manager Enzo Maresca hasn’t been shy in shuffling his pack, but the combination of Fernandez and Moises Caicedo in central midfield has been a constant.
Fernandez is considered crucial for Chelsea in their plans as they move forward. Hopefully, the 24-year-old Argentine star can get his side over the line for Champions League qualification in what’s left of this season.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 38 | 6 | 9 |
Carlton Cole claims Enzo Fernandez doesn’t have leadership traits yet
Without a doubt, one big criticism of Chelsea’s young squad this campaign is that they’re missing experience and leadership.
Speaking on The Dressing Room Podcast, former Blues defender Wayne Bridge said: “When you look at the players we had when we were playing there, like [Claude] Makelele, [Michael] Ballack, [Frank] Lampard. There are loads of captains in the team. You don’t look at the [current Chelsea side] and think there are many captains there.”
Carlton Cole agrees that Chelsea are crying out for more leadership in the dressing room. In particular, he focused on vice-captain Fernandez, claiming that he doesn’t yet possess the qualities to lead the team.
Former Blues striker Cole said on The Dressing Room podcast: “When you look at the boy in the middle, Enzo, he’s supposed to be that guy. He was supposed to be that guy to lead the team, but he’s still young as well.
“He’s one of the ones that’s supposed to lead the team, and he did win the World Cup. Winning the World Cup in a team like Argentina where you’ve got the leaders in that team anyway, he’s seen how a leader should look, but he’s not at that stage just yet in his career. It might look like he is, but he’s not that guy just yet.”
At the age of 24, Fernandez is one of the senior figures at Chelsea in our eyes. He wears the captain’s armband pretty frequently because club captain Reece James isn’t a regular starter, too.
Unlike Cole, many people have argued that the South American star is actually growing into a bit more of a leader this season at Stamford Bridge.
Back in February, Jason Cundy praised Fernandez by saying he’s now maturing and showing leadership traits on a consistent basis.
Elsewhere, earlier in April, John Obi Mikel singled out Fernandez’s influence at Chelsea because he’s noticed him screaming on the pitch and growing into a leader on the pitch.
Enzo Fernandez reaches landmark
In the 2-2 league draw at home to Ipswich Town on Sunday, Fernandez hit a significant landmark for the club.
The box-to-box central midfielder has now reached three figures with 100 appearances in Chelsea colours.
In the current active squad, excluding any players out on loan, Reece James is the only other individual to rack up 100+ appearances for Chelsea. Incidentally, Marc Cucurella currently sits on 97 Blues appearances and is close to joining the select club.
It perfectly highlights that this is still a group gelling together on and off the pitch, plus you’ve got to factor in the regular change of management in the last few years as well.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
