Enzo Fernandez reaches podium of highest-scoring Chelsea midfielders since Frank Lampard | OneFootball

Enzo Fernandez ended Chelsea’s collective goal drought by opening the scoring in their FA Cup semi-final against Leeds United, but where does the Argentine rank among the Blues’ best goalscoring midfielders from recent memory?

Chelsea went into the FA Cup semi-final on the back of a spell of five games without scoring in the Premier League, which led to the dismissal of head coach Liam Rosenior.

For Fernandez, scoring the opening goal was a moment of rejuvenation after his recent dropping by Rosenior for comments hinting at a potential move to Real Madrid.

Chelsea will be hoping to retain Fernandez for much longer, especially if he maintains the kind of form that has made 2025-26 the highest-scoring season of his career.

Chelsea were once blessed with one of the best goalscoring midfielders of them all in the shape of Frank Lampard, but who has got the most goals for them from the middle of the park since the current Coventry City boss left in 2014?

Here are the top 10 (not including, for example, Kai Havertz, since 22 of his 32 Chelsea goals came when he was playing as a striker or winger, or Hakim Ziyech for similar reasons).

10. Conor Gallagher – 10

A product of the Chelsea academy, Gallagher made his first-team debut in 2022 after a series of loans.

He scored three goals in his first full Chelsea season and then seven in his second, before being sold to Atletico Madrid after 95 appearances.

9. Ross Barkley – 12

Barkley’s time at Chelsea isn’t too fondly remembered, at least in comparison to his previous efforts with Everton.

He managed to score a dozen goals for Chelsea, with five apiece in his first two full seasons with the club. Less than half of his goals were scored in the Premier League, though.

8. N’Golo Kante – 13

When you think of Kante, there are a lot of qualities that’ll come to mind before you think of his goalscoring abilities.

But his longevity in a Chelsea shirt – spending seven seasons at Stamford Bridge after his 2016 move from Leicester City – enabled him to score 13 goals from 269 games.

7. Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 13

Compared to Kante, Loftus-Cheek’s 13 goals for Chelsea came in 114 fewer appearances.

The academy product hit double figures scored 10 of those goals during a breakthrough 2018-19 season, which made him the first post-Lampard midfielder to score double figures in a season for Chelsea.

6. Oscar – 15

Oscar scored a total of 38 goals for Chelsea, but 23 of those were in the two seasons he spent as Lampard’s teammate.

Tallies of seven in the 2014-15 season and eight in 2015-16 followed before the attacking midfielder moved to Chinese Super League side Shanghai Port.

5. Cesc Fabregas – 22

Chelsea brought former Arsenal star Fabregas back to the Premier League in the same summer they said farewell to Lampard (as a player) in 2014.

Fabregas wore the blue shirt for four-and-a-half years, falling two appearances shy of 200 games for the club. Along the way, he scored 22 goals, but he made more than twice as many assists.

4. Jorginho – 29

Jorginho joined Chelsea in 2018 to follow Maurizio Sarri to Stamford Bridge from Napoli. In Serie A, his reputation had been built as a possession retainer, to the extent that he only ever scored twice in Italy’s top flight for Napoli – once with a penalty and once with a rebound from a penalty.

But Jorginho assumed more frequent responsibilities from the spot after his arrival in the Premier League. All but two of his 29 goals for Chelsea were penalties.

3. Enzo Fernandez – 29

So convinced were Chelsea of Fernandez’s potential worth to them that they made him the most expensive player in British football history when they bought him from Benfica in 2023.

The biggest transfer fees are usually reserved for attacking players, but Fernandez has turned out to be a capable goal-getter in his own way, sometimes operating in a box-to-box role and sometimes as a number 10.

His goal against Leeds was his 29th for Chelsea, which is impressive for a player who didn’t score at all in his first six months in English football.

He ranks above Jorginho here thanks to a better goals-to-games ratio.

2. Mason Mount – 33

Mount’s goalscoring potential became evident when he hit double figures of goals in consecutive seasons out on loan, first with Vitesse Arnhem and then with Derby County, before being integrated into the first team by Lampard himself.

The attacking midfielder scored eight in his first full season with Chelsea and then incrementally improved his output over the next two seasons, scoring nine in 2021-22 and 13 in 2022-23.

When he left for Manchester United in 2023, Mount had 33 Chelsea goals to his name from 195 appearances.

1. Cole Palmer – 53

You can argue whether Palmer is as much of a midfielder as the other players behind him on this list, given he has played on the wing for Chelsea, but it’s estimated that 36 of his goals for the club have come whilst playing as a number 10, so even just counting those would put him top of the list.

Palmer enjoyed an incredible debut season with Chelsea in 2023-24 after moving from Manchester City, scoring 25 goals in all competitions and equalling Lampard’s best ever league return of 22.

In Palmer’s case, half of those goals were as a winger, but he is at his most effective through the middle behind a main striker.

All in, Palmer has already climbed into the top 30 of all-time Chelsea goalscorers in any position.