ANYWHERE IN MIDFIELD WORKS FOR FERNANDEZ

: Football expert Balague says Chelsea’s record buy has a killer pass and can score

LONDON Enzo Fernandez made his senior debut for Argentina only in September 2022, two years after he made his professional bow in football.

Fast forward a couple of months, and the 22-year-old midfielder was a key player for La Albiceleste, who won the World Cup in Qatar, where he was also named the best young player of the tournament.

His rise to the top has been fast and furious. It was only last summer that Portuguese club Benfica signed him from Argentina's River Plate for around €12 million (S$17.2 million) and, on Tuesday, Chelsea made him the most expensive player in Premier League history.

After some complex negotiations with Benfica on transfer deadline day, the Blues' staggering spending spree continued when they broke the British transfer record to sign Fernandez for €121 million.

"He was absolutely crucial to Argentina winning (the World Cup)," Spanish journalist and football expert Guillem Balague said of Fernandez on the BBC.

"It is down to his reading of the game... He can play in any place in the midfield. He can be a holding midfielder, on the right, on the left, the stats show he increases the quality on the move, he gives the last pass and the one before last and he's been scoring as well.