Sport
Enzo Fernandez must adapt his game to live up to his £125m price tag at Manchester City
Manchester City weren’t prepared to be denied in their pursuit of Enzo Fernandez. The Argentinean was, at the request of new manager Enzo Maresca, Manchester City’s primary target in the summer transfer window and the Etihad Stadium club ultimately got their man by paying Chelsea a fee of £125m for the midfielder on deadline day.
That fee makes Fernandez the joint-most expensive player in Premier League history alongside Alexander Isak and makes him the first player in the sport to be transferred twice for a fee of over £100m. And yet it’s not immediately clear how the 25-year-old will fit into the City lineup in the medium to long-term.
Against Coventry City on Saturday, Fernandez made his Manchester City debut as part of a midfield unit that also included Elliot Anderson and Rayan Cherki. Anderson was the deepest lying member of the midfield with Cherki operating as an out-and-out number 10 with the freedom to drift.
Fernandez shaded to the right side to offer some sort of width in the way Bernardo Silva did when he was a City player. The Argentine contributed to a 1-0 victory for his new team and would have set up Erling Haaland for a goal had it not been for a marginal offside decision. There were promising signs.
Fundamentally, though, Fernandez is most comfortable in a number 10 role. He is an attacking midfielder who is most impactful when he has the freedom to crash the box and pose a goal threat. In the current Manchester City side, Cherki has that freedom while Fernandez is being tied to the structure of Maresca’s set-up.
For £125m, City have signed a player who doesn’t give them exactly what they need and who is worse than what they already have. Fernandez is a World Cup winner and proven in the Premier League. He will strengthen Manchester City’s squad, but for £125m they might have expected more than a system player.
“For Elliot [Anderson], Enzo [Fernandez] and Ayyoub [Bouaddi], it’s because we knew that we need to change something,” said Maresca after the summer transfer window. “They are quite young and full of energy. [How we use them] It depends a little bit on the gameplan we have. But there are no doubts that these three are going to be main players for us.”
Anderson has already been installed as Manchester City’s deep-lying playmaker. The England international is one of the best in the Premier League at dictating play from the centre of the pitch and is already settling in as City’s new number six after the departure of Rodri to Barcelona in the summer.
Bouaddi caught the eye for Morocco as one of the breakout players of the 2026 World Cup. The 18-year-old has been signed for his potential with Bouaddi possessing the skill set to become one of the best all-round midfielders in the game. However, it might take some time for him to reach this level.
Fernandez could be a bridge between Manchester City’s current generation and their next generation which is already being moulded at the Etihad Stadium. Maresca’s team is a work in progress and few expect them to truly challenge Arsenal for the Premier League title this season. That might come too soon for them.
As a long-term piece in City’s team for the future, though, it’s clear Fernandez will have to adapt his game to be worth the £125m fee his new club paid for him. The World Cup winner will improve Maresca’s squad, but there are still unanswered questions about his true worth to a team that is entering a new era after Pep Guardiola.
