Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has talked up the qualities of Enzo Fernandez after his man-of-the-match performance against Aston Villa on Wednesday night.
The Blues travelled to the West Midlands on the back of 4-1 and 4-2 defeats to Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers, each of Pochettino's and Fernandez's future at Stamford Bridge being brought into question.
In the 24 hours ahead of the FA Cup fourth round replay, reports indicated that Fernandez may look to secure a transfer elsewhere at the end of the season, despite possessing a contract until 2031.
However, the agent of the £106.8m signing said publicly before the game the World Cup winner was committed to life at Chelsea and would not be angling for an exit.
Fernandez responded with one of his best displays in a Chelsea shirt, starring alongside Moises Caicedo in midfield and scoring a sensational free kick early in the second half.
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That strike put the West Londoners three goals to the good and they ultimately set up a last-16 showdown with Leeds United courtesy of a 3-1 victory.
Pochettino was naturally quizzed on the 23-year-old after the game, telling reporters at a press conference that the Argentina international is still adapting to life in England.
He said, as quoted by football.london: "He is a world champion player. Look, when he signed one year ago, he arrived after nearly two years with no holidays, no rest, with the pressure, still young, different environment, different language, different culture, a team that needs time to build. All of these types of circumstance, you need time.
"I don't want to annoy the people. For me, it's not an excuse. I want to be here because I really believe in the project, I really believe in the player, but please, stop to create expectation that does match to the reality and help the players that are here to try and build something.
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"Of course, if that happens again, we will be there to help. It does not surprise me because Enzo has the quality, not only to score this type of goal, but to perform in the way today he performed."
Pochettino added that he now wanted to see more consistency from his players after they delivered arguably their standout performance of the season.
Next up for Chelsea is a trip to Crystal Palace on Monday evening before they make the visit to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City on February 17.
Fernandez has made a total of 51 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions, scoring six goals and providing three assists.
Darren Plant
