Chelsea 0-0 Fulham
STAMFORD BRIDGE — When you arrive at Stamford Bridge as the most expensive footballer in the history of British football, as Enzo Fernandez did on deadline day, you might reasonably expect to take centre-stage even as Chelsea endured another night of frustration against Fulham.
In the No 5 shirt of Jorginho, the man he has replaced, Fernandez set about his work with grace, but also with subtlety. It may take a little while to vindicate a price tag (£107m) bordering on the absurd, but Fernandez was the one midfielder who made Graham Potter’s 4-3-3 tick.
Amidst the initial excitement surrounding his bow, it was nearly overshadowed by the surprise inclusion of Hakim Ziyech, whose PSG move collapsed at the 11th hour.
Yet it soon became clear that Fernandez is a player who offers what Chelsea have so desperately lacked: control. His first touches wrestled possession from Fulham and set Reece James haring down the line. For all the money Todd Boehly has spent, it is hard to overstate how much more pace and creativity is offered down the right when James is fit.
As Potter has found so often, that freedom can only be afforded when the middle of the park is not overloaded. Some will harbour concerns about Fernandez’s ability to cope with the league’s physicality, but he did not shy away from competing in the air – and even engaged in a few tussles with Aleksandar Mitrovic and Willian.
Fulham were as well-organised and impressive as we have come to expect, albeit they had a scare when Andreas Pereira survived a VAR check for a foul on Marc Cucurella.
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Then came Fernandez’s own curler from 25 yards – what an introduction that would have been.
A raucous reception had embraced the World Cup winner, with at least a few Argentina shirts spotted in the crowd. Little wonder they love him already.
Potter deserves praise too for bedding him in successfully. The Chelsea boss has been relatively open about the disconnect between his plans and those of an owner ostensibly drunk on Football Manager, one who has hired a project manager and bombarded him with more than £300m worth of new players in a month.
It’s like being gifted a very expensive bespoke jigsaw, except each piece has had one of the corners cut off. Mykhailo Mudryk isn’t match fit. Fernandez isn’t experienced in any European league, let alone the English top flight.
It was still a stark contrast to the catastrophic debut of Saul Niguez here 17 months ago, which lasted just 45 minutes before he was hauled off.
Admittedly, Fernandez’s impact was dampened a little by a sense of chaos in the midfield around him, with Conor Gallagher floundering.
Indeed the central midfield has been a problem position for successive managers, effectively since the end days of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho. So whatever is said about the fee, there are green shoots of hope that can finally change.
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