Enzo Fernandez transfer vindicated as fresh Chelsea impact becomes clear

Enzo Fernandez's impact at Chelsea has been highlighted after the victory over Brighton at the weekend.

The Blues claimed a 4-2 victory over the Seagulls on Saturday in the Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.

Cole Palmer scored all four goals in the win, all of which came in the first half, with Fernandez also putting in an impressive performance.

Enzo Maresca has started Fernandez in all five of Chelsea's Premier League fixtures that the midfielder has been available this season, missing only the win over Bournemouth due to illness.

The 23-year-old has been one of the first names on the team sheet for Chelsea this season and ever since he was signed from Benfica in January last year.

🇪🇺 Top 5 League U23 Midfielders : Passes to final third

🇦🇷 45 — Enzo Fernández (Chelsea, 23)
🇪🇸 45 — Adrián Bernabé (Parma, 23)
🇵🇹 42 — João Neves (PSG, 19)
🇵🇹 42 — Samú Costa (Mallorca, 23)
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 41 — Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace, 20)
🇩🇪 42 — Aleksandar Pavlović (Bayern, 20)

📊… pic.twitter.com/IiggU1viOv

— DataMB (@DataMB_) September 28, 2024

has provided some analysis which highlights Fernandez's importance to Chelsea and impact compared to other players in his position.

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According to the outlet, Fernandez has completed 45 passes into the final third for Chelsea this season. To put that into perspective, that figure is the joint-most for midfielders aged 23 or under across Europe, with Fernandez achieving the same figure as Parma star Adrian Bernabe. Paris Saint-Germain's Joao Neves and Mallorca's Samu Costa are next on the list with 42 each.

Fernandez has only registered one assist so far this season for Chelsea, which came in the Europa Conference League qualifier against Servette in August. But goals and assists only tell part of the story, with the Argentina international's impact in the final third becoming more noticeable.

Chelsea are next in action on Thursday night when they face Gent in their first match of the Europa Conference League, before taking on Nottingham Forest at the weekend in their final Premier League fixture before the October international break. Given Fernandez's importance to the team, it would not be a surprise to see Maresca hand the midfielder starts in both fixtures this week.