Enzo Fernández is once again captain at Chelsea: how he reversed the conflict that arose over the chant during the national team celebrations

The London club paid 121 million euros for the Argentine (Reuters/Andrew Couldridge)Action Images via Reuters

After a difficult year for the Chelseathe London club is preparing to face the new Premier League season with renewed optimism and the hope of improving its performance after finishing in sixth place last season. The team led by Enzo Maresca drew 1-1 in a friendly match against Inter from Lautaro Martinez at Stamford Bridge. And he had, once again, Enzo Fernández with the captain’s armband.

The Argentine midfielder, who had been in the eye of the storm for the controversial chants referring to the origin of the French players during the celebrations of the Argentine national team for winning the Copa América, once again received the honour of captaincy as a sign that the differences within the team have been overcome.

Enzo Fernandez has made 62 appearances for Chelsea since his arrival, scoring seven goals and providing five assists. The pre-season has also been difficult for the English team, as they have only won one of the seven friendlies played. It remains to be seen whether these results will change at the start of the Premier League, where they will debut on August 18 against the current champions, Manchester City. A week later, Chelsea will face Wolves away, and on September 1 they will host Crystal Palace at home.

The gesture of granting the captaincy to Fernández was reinforced by Reece Jamesone of the leaders of the locker room, who gave him the armband during one of the friendlies. Fabrizio Romanoa journalist specializing in the transfer market, gave details of how the 23-year-old former River player managed to break the distrust of his French teammates after the song episode.

“The internal process to clarify the situation was successful after the talks with Reece James, (Axel) Disasi and new signing Tosin (Adarabioyo), who played a major role in helping to open talks with the players involved and Enzo“, wrote the communicator in his account on the social network X.

Indeed, as soon as he returned from his post-continental competition vacation, and after a nod from coach Maresca, who tried to put an end to the short circuits since his assumption, Enzo gathered the squad and offered apologies. And Wesley Fofanaone of the angriest to the point of having posted a criticism on his networks, exonerated him and called for public support.

The Argentine’s post after being captain against Inter

“We are on the same team and we have to move forward together. If I am on one side and Enzo on the other and we fight every day or we don’t talk or we are not happy on the field, then we don’t play well,” he said in a press conference, in addition to stressing that the former River player “is not racist.”

“I explained to him why I didn’t like the video. He explained. He said sorry because he didn’t want to hurt the French fans or anyone else.,” the Frenchman added on how they overcame their differences. The former Leicester defender added that Fernandez showed sincere remorse and pledged to make a considerable donation to an anti-discrimination charity.

“This team is going to fight everywhere this season. See you next week, Blues, we’re all in it together.”wrote Fernández himself on his Instagram profile, almost a confirmation of this change of page, which has him as one of the team’s key players and a candidate to wear the captain’s armband, an increasingly common occurrence.