Enzo Maresca reveals why he has dropped Enzo Fernandez from his first-choice XI ahead of Man United clash – after Chelsea star split with childhood sweetheart and mother of his kids

Enzo Maresca has revealed why Enzo Fernandez has lost his place in the Chelsea starting line-up in recent fixtures.

It comes after Fernandez, 23, split from his childhood sweetheart Valentina Cervantes to live on his own – despite them having a daughter and son together.

Fernandez has had to settle for a seat on the bench in Chelsea’s last two Premier League fixtures against Liverpool and Newcastle. It remains to be seen what his involvement will be against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

The midfielder has copped flak ever since Chelsea signed him from Benfica for a British record £107million in 2023. TalkSPORT host Rory Jennings claimed recently that he should ‘never play for Chelsea again’ and that he is potentially the ‘worst’ signing in Premier League history. 

But Maresca has great sympathy for Fernandez’s struggles to live up to his price tag, not least given the turmoil in his personal life.

Manager Enzo Maresca insists ‘there is no problem’ and that he does not expect the young midfielder so constantly justify his £107million price tag

Fernandez recently split from childhood sweetheart and mum of his kids, Valentina Cervantes

Cervantes (left) followed Fernandez (right) to London when he joined Chelsea last year

 ‘They are human beings and if you pay £100m that is not my problem,’ Maresca said ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Manchester United on Sunday afternoon. 

‘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. The noise about Enzo is because clubs pay so much money for them, people expect they will always be the best. That is not so.

’The only reason he is not playing is just because the physicality I prefer is from (Moises) Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.’

Fernandez captained the Blues during the opening weeks of the season but has lost his place.  

Caicedo and Lavia have become Maresca’s main partneship while Fernandez has had to settle for starts in the Carabao Cup and Europa Conference League recently., though he has come off the bench in the Premier League. 

It has been a turbulent time for the Argentinian star due to his split with long-term girlfriend Cervantes. 

Cervantes followed Fernandez to Benfica when he joined the Portuguese club in 2022, and then moved to London to join her partner when he signed for Chelsea in a deal worth £107m last January. But a little over 18 months on, the couple have decided to go their separate ways. 

The couple have been together a number of years after meeting in their homeland of Argentina, but have now gone their separate ways

Maresca prefers the physicality of Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo in the middle of the park

Fernandez is going through a difficult time at Chelsea after being dropped from Enzo Maresca’s starting XI

Announcing the end of their relationship on Thursday, Cervantes wrote on Instagram: ‘With Enzo today we say distance from each other. But we will always be family and support each other through everything. Because there are two kids in the middle that need a lot of our love for them.

‘I know the person and excellent father Enzo is, and the heart he has. And that’s enough for me. They don’t want to create wars where there aren’t any.’

Cervantes’s statement indicates that it is an amicable split, while an Argentinian journalist has provided more details on the break-up on X. 

Julieta Argenta wrote: ‘He told her he wants to live life on his own. They’re still family, but he feels the need to experience the stage he skipped by choosing family early on.’ 

Fernandez now faces a battle to get back into Chelsea’s strongest XI after failing to live up to expectations since arriving in England. He currently has a modest return of just seven goals and six assists in 74 Chelsea appearances.