Ex-Chelsea defender William Gallas has praised Enzo Fernandez for his performances in recent months.

The Argentinian international has been asked to get forward more often by head coach Enzo Maresca, and he has produced more goals and assists as a result. Speaking to Prime Casino, Gallas likened Fernandez to a club legend:

“Fernandez is a player who has to be almost free on the pitch. You have to allow him to go forward, make late runs. If you give him that freedom, he’ll score a lot of goals. There are times when I watch him play, I look at the areas of the pitch that he likes to operate in and how he crashes the box, almost like a second striker, he reminds me of Frank Lampard.”

“Frank was the same. At the end of the day, if Enzo wasn’t scoring goals or creating goals, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation, so he’s doing something right; he’s getting better when he puts on a Chelsea shirt.”

“He’s starting to become a very important player for the club. He’s doing his job in midfield. He can cover the pitch, and maybe the defensive part of his game is 30%, with getting forward being dangerous, scoring goals and creating opportunities the remaining 70%.”

Gallas does, however, believe that Fernandez’s form could attract the interest of a Spanish giant and he wouldn’t be surprised if the midfielder left for the Bernabeu after the World Cup in North America next summer:

“I don’t know him, but like most South American players, I suspect that he dreams of playing in La Liga one day. I suspect that he dreams of playing for Real Madrid, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he did play there at some stage in his career.”

“For Enzo to play for Real, he knows he will have to be Chelsea’s best performer in most games. He knows he will have to have a great Champions League campaign. I expect goals from him this season. I think he could have a great season, and maybe he’ll move on after the World Cup.”

Fernandez’s record since the start of the 2024/25 season

Following his exploits at the Club World Cup, the 24-year-old has now racked up 25 goal involvements in all competitions, including 9 goals and 16 assists.

That is over double what Fernandez managed in his first 18 months at Stamford Bridge. He is definitely heading in the right direction.

Would Chelsea consider selling him?

The Blues would be reluctant to offload any of their best players but their transfer model means there are very few indispensable members of the first-team squad.

Even so, you would think that Real would have to pay more than the £107m that the London club splashed out on Fernandez back in January 2023.

In other news, we give our player ratings for Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Palmeiras in the Club World Cup