Dropping Enzo Fernandez shows nobody indispensable at Chelsea, insists manager Enzo Maresca

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has insisted no player is irreplaceable after dropping €121m midfielder Enzo Fernandez.

The World Cup winner with Argentina has been demoted to Maresca's second string featuring only in cup competitions, and has not started either of the last two Premier League games.

Co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali fought a dogged battle to land the 23-year-old from Benfica in January 2023, eventually agreeing a then British-record fee to sign him on deadline day.

But after showing only flashes of the talent that brought him to global attention as his country were crowned world champions in Qatar, he has now been benched with Maresca preferring the less experienced Romeo Lavia as midfield partner to Moises Caicedo.

"I still trust him," said Maresca. "There’s no reason in the world I can lose confidence in him.

"The reason he isn’t playing in the Premier League is that in this moment I take different decisions, but my confidence is 100% with Enzo."

Fernandez was disciplined internally in July after footage emerged of him joining in with racist and homophobic taunting of the France team that Argentina beat in the World Cup final, following the country’s Copa America triumph.

Shortly afterwards he was made captain for Chelsea’s first game of the season against Manchester City, but the emergence of Lavia – who missed virtually the whole of last season after the club beat Liverpool in a hard-fought race for his signature – has seen Fernandez bumped from the side, with the manager citing a lack of physicality from the player.

"I like to say there are players that are fantastic, but for me we don’t have indispensable players," said Maresca.

"If Cole (Palmer) is not playing for any reason, we play Joao (Felix).