Enzo Fernandes is an incredibly exciting and skilled footballer who is guaranteed to contribute to the Chelsea shirt for many years to come.
But of course, signing the most expensive Premier League signing of all time is also a sign of total panic.
We can start to see the glass as half full.
Because this is really a very good signing for Chelsea – in many ways.
With an aging midfield base either out of contract (N’Golo Kanté) or sold to Arsenal before deadline (Jorginho), 22-year-old Enzo Fernandez is exactly what the club needs. It’s really great that Benfica, as it didn’t bother them, managed to poach super talent from River Plate for the €12m they punished last summer. He has impressed in both league and Champions League matches. And the crown of his unparalleled fall came when he was one of the best and most important players of Argentina on his way to the gold of “Los Albiceleste” in the World Cup. Yes, he was even the best young player in the entire tournament.
His versatility in midfield will be invaluable to Chelsea, who have a midfielder to build things for many years to come. A signing they wanted throughout the transfer window, that they fought all the way to get to the court and that they really succeeded. Signing what they likely would have done this summer as they had to compete with more top clubs, presumably without a Champions League place to offer in that competition. After all, that is why it was so urgent from Chelsea’s point of view to reach an agreement here and now, if only in the last seconds of the transfer window.
But somewhere in there we come to the glass half empty analysis.
Because it costs more than 1.3 billion SEK and is the most expensive purchase of a Premier League player ever.
He wanted to catch up before the competition
That he would be expensive was by no means surprising given his international breakthrough during the World Cup and the talent he possesses. After all, you can count on the success of the water cycle to mean a few hundred million extra on the price. Add to this that Benfica did not need to sell and never wanted to sell (which is why it took as long as it did).
And on the Chelsea side, as I said, there was a reason to pay more to get the player signed before the competition.
Enzo Fernandez himself? He naturally understood that it was time to strike while the iron was hot and dreamed of moving to the biggest league in the world. If he hadn’t pushed himself as hard as Chelsea, this would never have happened.
Benfica, one of the most adept clubs in the world at selling players for huge sums of money, played all their cards right when they forcefully pointed to his exciting, but still affordable for the richest, buyout clause.
Suddenly, transferring the log, even a little more expensive than the item but with an installment plan, has become a reality.
The signature of Todd Boyley would have been what Mookie Betts’ standard contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers was – to make the obvious baseball reference that doesn’t really apply to a completely different sports culture on a completely different continent.
In any case, the transfer leaves a lot of questions behind – for Chelsea.
What’s the plan?
Would they really have spent that money if it weren’t for a few key performances in the Argentina national team jersey at one of the stages of the World Cup? Never in my life.
Would they really have spent that money were it not for the fact that Chelsea are currently in serious league trouble? Never in my life.
Will Enzo Fernandes really be so dominant and dominant that he can really make a huge difference in Chelsea’s quest for fourth place? It will make them better, but they are hard to see. Just like all the guys you gave your other January billions to?
Do Chelsea really have a bigger plan beyond deliberately trying to sign promising young players on long-term contracts in order to epitomize a generational change, build a new body and embark on a Manchester City-like journey? As of now, it is too early to tell what this will achieve in the long term. This refers not only to the plan but also to the accounting.
Will Chelsea question their appeal compared to other top clubs when they make the move in the January window? Undoubtedly.
The recruitment of Enzo Fernandez, as I said, is remarkable in several respects – because he is a brilliant footballer who in the long term could become a world leader in his position.
But of course, the icing on the cake in January’s London blue window was the sign of total panic.