Enzo Maresca: Just because Enzo Fernandez cost £105m does not mean I have to play him

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says Enzo Fernandez cannot be an automatic selection in his team just because he cost more than £105 million.

Fernandez has been largely underwhelming since his then British-record transfer from Benfica in 2023 and been left out of Maresca’s side for the past two Premier League matches.

The Argentina midfielder was named in a much-changed starting line-up for the midweek Carabao Cup defeat by Newcastle but played poorly in the 2-0 defeat at St James’ Park.

Maresca is set to once again pair Romeo Lavia with Moises Caicedo in the heart of his midfield for the trip to Manchester United on Sunday and the Italian insists it is unfair to judge a player on their price tag.

Maresca said: “If you remember, questions were asked about Moi [Caicedo] and the price the club paid for him. That is not an Enzo problem or a Moi problem.

“Just because the club spent £100 million, people expect them to be the best player. It is not about how much you paid.

“At the end of the day they are human beings and if you pay £100 million that is not my problem. You want to buy me then you pay that money.

“That does not mean that every game you have to be the best. At the end of the day they are football players and they cannot always be at the top level.

“At this moment, Enzo is not playing but there is no problem with Enzo. He is doing well in the time we are giving him chances. The only reason he is not playing is because the physicality I prefer in the middle is from Moi and Romeo.

“That doesn’t mean Enzo isn’t going to give us physicality in the future but the noise about Enzo is because clubs pay so much money for players so people expect they will always be the best. That is not so.”

Cole Palmer was outstanding once again in last Sunday’s 2-1 win over Newcastle and when Chelsea last met United at Stamford Bridge in April the England international scored a hat-trick against the club he supported as a boy in a breathless 4-3 encounter.

The 22-year-old has become one of the best players in the Premier League since his move from Manchester City last year and Maresca said he needs to get used to being a marked man if he is to move up to the next level.

“The next step for Cole is not to get frustrated when teams mark him man to man because all of the best players in the world are marked man to man,” Maresca said.

“After last season, for him it was the first season in terms of arriving at Chelsea, probably it was the opposite — they weren’t too worried about marking Cole.

“This year, they are now worried because of last year so he has to get used to it. The next step is going to be more difficult but he can do it.”