Enzo Fernandez was not “ready to fight,” according to Frank Leboeuf, who also called him Chelsea’s worst player in the team’s 2-0 loss to Manchester City on Sunday.
In Enzo Maresca’s first Premier League game as manager, the Blues fell to Pep Guardiola’s champions at Stamford Bridge in the opening game of the 2024–25 season.
While Marc Cucurella gave a strong performance, the Chelsea team as a whole appeared to be lacking in energy, with captain Fernandez struggling especially against City.
In January 2023, Fernandez, who paid £106.8 million to join Chelsea, was too easy to go past in midfield and mostly let his side down defensively.
Leboeuf, former Chelsea defender, said ESPN, “I thought Enzo Fernandez was the poorest in that game.”
‘He is the skipper. He has to set an example. I didn’t feel he was sharp or ready to fight.
‘They are still trying stuff… I can feel something is getting better at Chelsea. But at the end of the day, if you can’t score goals, because you don’t have a striker, that is a big problem.’
Fernandez was accused of ‘uninhibited racism’ by his own team-mate Wesley Fofana this summer.
That came after Fernandez posted a video on his social media account after Argentina beat Colombia 1-0 in the Copa America final on 14 July.
The clip showed Argentina’s players singing a derogatory song about France’s black players – but Fofana has since confirmed Fernandez has apologised – and they have drawn a line under the incident.
‘I trust him because I know him,’ Fofana said at Chelsea’s pre-season training camp in the United States.
‘I know he is not racist. The act… I felt a little bit upset. But now, it is done. It is finished.
‘I hope this has educated him a bit, because for sure, it is a different culture. We need to educate about this because cultures are different, a lot of countries.’