Selfish Enzo’s actions are unacceptable, even if they are understandable | OneFootball

This is a syndicated version of this story, originally featured on the BBC Sport website.

The international break means two weeks without a Chelsea game, the perfect window for a small story to get blown out of proportion as fans and journalists sit around waiting for the Premier League to return.

It was to this backdrop that Enzo Fernandez chose to launch his farewell tour. He had already planted the seeds with his comments after the Champions League defeat against PSG earlier this month, where he sighed that he “didn’t know” where he would be playing next season.

His return to Argentina for national team duty then gave him the perfect platform to start the next stage: the open flirtation with Real Madrid. He went on a podcast over the weekend to sip maté and talk about how much he’d like to live in the Spanish capital. Hardly subtle; bordering on shameless.

Selfish Enzo throws team into disarray just as they need unity

The vice captain is destabilising his team at a crucial moment in the season, and has shown that he’s putting his desires and his career ahead of the club he’s supposed to be a leader and a cornerstone player for.

If Fernandez leaves, the BlueCo project stops being just being stuck and starts going backwards. Players who might otherwise be happy to continue giving their best now see a senior starter agitating to move and begin wondering if they should be doing the same thing.

Chelsea then are stuck in an impossible position, even if they do get a big offer for Enzo: sell a key piece and admit your ambitions aren’t matching those of the world’s best players, or hold on to an unhappy player who is clearly not afraid to make a fuss?

The long contracts the likes of Enzo have been signed to are supposed to protect the club – but they can’t force a player to be happy, or to play well. In fact, there’s a sense that Enzo is accelerating his campaign to leave precisely because the club has so much leverage on paper.

Will Faulks @willfaulks

In other news…

Marc Cucurella’s comments were also very worrying, in part because he’s usually considered a safe pair of hands by the club.

Enzo’s comments about Chelsea were made possible by the leadership vacuum at the club says former player John Obi Mikel.