Carabao Cup final: Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez primed to punish Liverpool at Wembley

The £107m World Cup winner could so easily have been lining up in red at Wembley
Nizaar Kinsella25 February 2024

Enzo Fernandez will be a major threat to Liverpool in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final, a team Chelsea considered a rival for the player’s signature a little over a year ago.

There have only been glimpses of why Chelsea made such an effort to sign the Argentine for £106million from Benfica last February.

Fresh from being named the Best Young Player at the World Cup, Chelsea worked until the final minutes of the January transfer window to wrap up a British record deal.

There was a feeling that if they waited, the Reds and Real Madrid would join the race.

Now, the 22-year-old is becoming the player many expected him to be for the Blues, and just in time. Sunday sees Chelsea take on Liverpool at Wembley Stadium in the biggest game of the season so far and Fernandez will look to take his fine 2024 form into the showpiece fixture.

He kicked off the year by scoring against Preston and has since added goals against Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.

His stunning 30-yard free-kick at Villa Park is arguably Chelsea’s goal of the season thus far, while his composed finish after a lung-busting counter-attack at Palace is further evidence of his improving fitness.

Enzo Fernandez could have been playing for Liverpool at Wembley, had Chelsea not swooped for his services first
Getty Images

Last year was tough for Fernandez as he adapted to English football and saw himself being outmuscled in midfield and wasteful in attack.

Two changes of club and a World Cup in between compounded his fitness issues. Once at Chelsea, he played under three different managers before the season finished. Now he is thriving under fellow Argentine Mauricio Pochettino.

Speaking ahead of the Wembley duel, Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders said: “Enzo is the one who, if you let him free, can play passes everywhere.

“I think a lot of instability happened at the beginning of the season, so how can you expect them to perform? They are growing. I think the manager and coaching staff are doing a good job. I think he has finally found his XI.”

Sunday’s final is more than just a chance at silverware for Chelsea, it is also a shot at some sort of validation after spending £1billion on new players across the last three transfer windows.

Co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali will both be in attendance at Wembley and will hope that marquee signings like Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Mykhailo Mudryk step up.

This is why the money was spent - though only Fernandez is showing real signs of progress thus far.

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