'Trying to convince him': Enzo Maresca admits he wants Chelsea star to play like £15m Leicester ace

Today at 12:15 PM

There was a few surprising names on Enzo Maresca’s team sheet as the Chelsea boss returned to Leicester City during Saturday’s early Premier League kick off.

While Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson have written their names in indelible ink onto the starting XI these days, the same cannot be said of two players who cost Chelsea a combined fee in the region of £150 million.

Joao Felix’s second spell at Stamford Bridge is yet to really get going. This was his first Premier League start since returning from Atletico Madrid over the summer.

Enzo Fernandez, meanwhile, was back in the XI after five successive top-flight matches stuck on the bench.

And to say the £105 million World Cup winner repaid his manager’s faith – setting up Nicolas Jackson’s opener before securing the three points with a rare goal of at a time in which Enzo Fernandez is becoming common fodder for the critics – would be an understatement.

Enzo Maresca explains Enzo Fernandez role as Chelsea beat Leicester City

“Enzo did really well today. He is doing very well since we started,” Maresca told reporters during his post-match press conference. “The same as I said many times for Joao Felix.

“The problem is it depends on the game-plan. We use different kind of players [for different games].”

Fernandez has spent much of his Chelsea career operating as a deep-lying playmaker, pulling the strings and setting the tempo from the heart of the pitch.

Away at Leicester – Maresca returning to the club he guided to the Championship title in 2023/24 – there was a notable change in Fernandez’s positioning and his role.

The much-maligned former Benfica ace – Fernandez was slammed by Graeme Souness this month – found himself in nosebleed territory as he set up Jackson’s piercing opener from around the edge of the penalty area. Fernandez then doubled Chelsea’s lead after half-time, heading home from close range after Mads Hermansen had parried another Jackson attempt.

That was only Fernandez’s fourth Premier League goal in 57 appearances.

He also managed three shots, including his goal. A massive uptick on his seasonal average of 0.7 per game.

And Maresca admits that he has instructed Fernandez to add a box-crashing string to his bow, hoping to make the 23-year-old a more regular presence on the scoresheet a la Wilfried Ndidi and new Chelsea team-mate Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall last season.

Maresca wants Fernandez to emulate Leicester duo at Chelsea

“Today, I thought, was the right game to use Enzo, even if he was back [late] from international duty. I think he did very well,” Maresca adds.

“I’m trying to convince Enzo [to play] in the same way as I did last year with Ndidi and Kiernan, that attacking midfielders need to arrive in the box. The reason why he scored today was because he was inside the box.

“And, if he was outside of the box, he wouldn’t have scored the goal. We are happy in the way Enzo is doing.”

Between them, Dewsbury-Hall and Ndidi scored 20 times across 2023/24. A record return for both players.

Ndidi was a revelation after being transformed from a tough-tackling number six into a roving number eight. A transformation Enzo Fernandez now appears to be going through.

"I'm very happy for the team, and for the win most importantly,” Fernandez smiled at full-time. “I'm very happy for Nico.

“We keep going, we keep working, we keep pushing.”