Enso Fernandes broke the English transfer record when he moved to Chelsea. No one regrets the departure of Jorginho, whose physical weakness was obvious. However, looking at the current Chelsea situation, Fernandes faces a challenge from filling Jorginho’s void.
Jorginho was clearly Chelsea’s main player when it comes to his appearances alone. He started 15 out of 20 matches in the English Premier League (EPL) and played as a substitute in 3 matches. His number of starts was tied for fourth on the team. Travel time was also 4th with 1,282 minutes.
Among the central midfielders, there was not even a player who played half of Jorginho. Looking at the number of starts in the center alone, Jorginho 15, Ruben Loftuschik and Mateo Kovacic each 7, Mason Mount 6 and Dennis Zakaria 4. In terms of skills, there are not enough players who can naturally cope with the situation without Jorginho.
There are 8 players recruited in the winter, of which 2 are central midfielders. First of all, Enso Fernandez is likely to replace Jorginho as he is a super-special prospect who has renewed the EPL’s highest transfer fee. In the case of Andrei Santos, a 19-year-old prospect representing Brazil’s youth team, it doesn’t seem like an immediate sense of power.
Expectations for Fernandez are much higher than for Jorginho, but the situation remains that the midfielder who has played most consistently in the current first team is missing and a prospect fills the position. Fernandez is 22 years old and still developing. He played as a main player in Argentina and Benfica’s prestigious River Plate and Benfica, but this is the first time in the big leagues. The evaluation at Benfica was good, and in particular, it is positive that it showed competitiveness in the European Football Federation Champions League (UCL), ahead of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Juventus, and contributed greatly to taking first place in the group. 메이저놀이터
It is a worrying factor that the midfielder does not join in a stable state, but that it is unclear who to place as a partner. Looking at Chelsea’s last two EPL games, Jorginho was a fixture, and Connor Gallagher and 19-year-old prospect Louis Hall alternated as partners, and they have never had a clear combination.
There are games where Jorginho showed good form this season, but his performance was mostly disappointing, so being replaced by Fernandez has more expectations than anxiety. However, since the team’s midfield is not stable, he needs to immediately take the starting position and play an active role. Since several Chelsea midfielders have split their travel time, it can be rather an advantage to have a variety of cards available. Currently, N’Golo Kante and Denis Zakaria are out with injuries. Director Graham Porter must find the best match for Fernandez from among the resources available. Kovacic can provide ball keeping and forwarding ability, Hall can provide action and Loftuscheek can provide bulk and ball carrying ability.