Enzo Fernández has been a bright spark in a shocking run for Chelsea

T he World Cup turned Enzo Fernández into a global superstar. The midfielder was highly regarded in Argentina after breaking through at River Plate and his standing had grown during his brief spell with Benfica. However, it was in Qatar where he truly rose to prominence. Lionel Scaloni used Fernández from the bench in Argentina’s first two games, but his goal against Mexico convinced the manager to start the young midfielder for the remainder of the tournament. They did not look back.

Argentina went on to lift the World Cup and Fernández cemented his reputation as one of the best in his position in the game, winning the tournament’s Young Player award – an honour previously bestowed on Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Thomas Müller and Kylian Mbappé among others. A star had been born.

Europe’s richest clubs circled but it was Chelsea who bowed to Benfica’s demands to pay his release clause in full, landing the midfielder on deadline day for £106.8m. Not only was it a British transfer record but it was a hefty fee to pay for a 22-year-old who had never appeared in one of Europe’s top five leagues and had cost Benfica £8m just seven months earlier.

Chelsea splurged in the January transfer window, spending nearly £300m on Fernández, Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoît Badiashile, Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto, Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana, as well as bringing in João Félix on loan from Atlético Madrid until the end of the season. The sums were huge, with Chelsea spending more than all of the clubs in the Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1 put together. As the poster boy for this new Chelsea era, Fernández was under immediate pressure to succeed.

Despite their spending, Chelsea are still short of a goalscorer. They have a negative