Chelsea have been told that they have had their “pants pulled down” with the British record transfer of Enzo Fernandez with some critics convinced he will not match rivals at Manchester United or Manchester City.
The Blues added to their huge January spend on deadline day with a deal for the World Cup winner. After extensive negotiations with Portuguese giants Benfica, Chelsea agreed to pay nearly £108m for the Argentinian midfielder. He joins after an impressive six months at the Estadio da Luz eyeing a similar impact in west London.
But not everyone has been left overly convinced by Chelsea’s decision to spend a massive fee on his services. Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has claimed that Fernandez is not worth the eye-watering outlay, whilst suggesting that the midfielder does not come close to the likes of Casemiro or Rodri at rival clubs.
Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: “Chelsea are overpaying for players, I still don’t think the majority of their first XI gets anywhere near Man City’s team. I’ve watched Enzo Fernandez live and he’s decent, but he’s not £100m.
“They’ve been absolutely bent over there. He’s a good midfielder, he’s tenacious, he’s young, he gets on the ball and he’s brave.
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“But he’s not Casemiro, he’s not Rodri. They’re overspending on players, clubs are seeing Chelsea come and they’re basically just pulling their pants down.”
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Murphy is not the only pundit to be critical of Chelsea’s decision to sign Fernandez. Ally McCoist has claimed that West Ham star Declan Rice would have been a better option to both the Argentine and alternative Moises Caicedo.
“The West Ham fans won’t thank me for it,” he said on talkSPORT. “But if Chelsea are going to spend all sorts of money on Fernandez and Arsenal were looking to spend a right few on Caicedo, then surely Declan Rice is a good and better option than the pair of them?
“Why are Chelsea going for Fernandez and spending all that money, when they can potentially test the water on West Ham, I am just going to annoy West Ham supporters and I don’t want to do it.”
Chelsea have long been linked with a move for their former academy player in the past, but it now remains to be seen whether he is still an option after their acquisition of Fernandez. Arsenal could provide competition for his services in the summer with Mikel Arteta having reportedly prioritised a move despite the signing of Chelsea star Jorginho.
The Italian midfielder could be set to make his debut for the Gunners this weekend as they travel to Goodison Park to take on struggling Everton.
Meanwhile, this weekend is likely to come too soon for Fernandez with Chelsea set to take on London rivals Fulham on Friday. He could instead look to next week’s clash with West Ham at the London Stadium for his Blues’ bow.
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