Chelsea's 135 million USD midfielder is the most overpowered in Europe
Fernandez has yet to know the scent of victory through five appearances for Chelsea in all competitions, with three defeats and two draws. Those are the draws of Fulham 0-0, West Ham 1-1, loss to Southampton 0-1, Tottenham 0-2 in the Premier League and Dortmund 0-1 in the first leg of the 1/8 Champions League round.
In the Premier League alone, Fernandez played the full 360 minutes, passed 353 passes, created three chances and did not score. He contributed an assist when he pressed the ball for Joao Felix to break the offside trap and finish the opening match in the draw at West Ham.
In particular, the 22-year-old midfielder made many direct errors that led to Chelsea conceding. In the 0-2 loss at Tottenham in the 25th round of the Premier League last weekend, Fernandez argued badly, creating conditions for Oliver Skipp to steal the ball and then finish from outside the penalty area to open the score.
Before that, Fernandez also did not defend well, causing Chelsea to lose at Dortmund in the Champions League. In the counter-attack in the 63rd minute, Karim Adeyemi sped from home to eliminate Fernandez, overtake goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and then shot into an empty net.
According to British newspaper Sunsport, some fans have defended Chelsea's rookie. "Fernandez is single in midfield under a mediocre coach who doesn't know how to use him. Fernandez is not playing in his forte position but was forced to control the midfield," one fan commented on Twitter.
Meanwhile, many rival fans gloated when Fernandez did not meet expectations. "When I said Fred was better than Fernandez, many Chelsea fans rejected me," one Man Utd fan sarcastically.
Fernandez's bad form made Chelsea play poorly last time. "The Blues" are currently ranked 10th in the Premier League, have been excluded from both the FA Cup and the League Cup, and will kick the second leg of the 1/8 Champions League round with Dortmund on March 7.
On the last day of the January 2023 transfer window, Chelsea agreed to pay $ 130 million - exactly the same fee as specified in the contract release clause between Benfica and Fernandez. However, Portuguese newspaper Abola reported, because of the toughness from Benfica President Rui Costa, Chelsea agreed to spend an additional $ 5.5 million to ensure the Lisbon club agreed to release people, increasing the total transfer fee of the brand. this case to 135.5 million USD.
