Enzo Maresca reveals why he dropped Enzo Fernandez from his starting squad ahead of the Manchester United match – after the Chelsea star split from his childhood sweetheart and mother of his children

Enzo Maresca has revealed why Enzo Fernandez lost his place in Chelsea’s starting line-up in recent matches.

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

Fernandes had to make do with a place on the bench for Chelsea’s last two Premier League matches against Liverpool and Newcastle. It remains to be seen what his involvement will be against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

The midfielder has been criticized since Chelsea signed him from Benfica for a UK record £107 million in 2023. talkSPORT presenter Rory Jennings recently said he should “never play for Chelsea again” and that he is potentially the “worst” signing in the Premier League. story.

But Maresca is very sympathetic to Fernandez’s attempts to justify his price, not least given the turmoil in his personal life.

Enzo Fernandez lost his place in Chelsea’s starting line-up in recent league matches.

Manager Enzo Maresca insists there are “no problems” and that he does not expect the young midfielder to justify his £107million price tag so consistently.

Fernandez recently split from his childhood sweetheart and mother of his children, Valentina Cervantes.

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

“They are human beings and if you pay £100 million it’s not my problem,” Maresca said ahead of Chelsea’s match with Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

“You want to buy me, then you pay this money. This doesn’t mean you have to be the best in every game. After all, they are footballers and cannot always be at the highest level.

“Enzo is not playing at the moment, but there are no problems with Enzo. The buzz around Enzo is because clubs pay so much money for them that people expect them to always be the best. This is wrong.

“The only reason he is not playing is because the physical form I prefer belongs to Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.”

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

Caicedo and Lavia have become Maresca’s main partners, while Fernandez has recently had to make do with starts in the Carabao Cup and the European Conference League, although he has come off the bench in the Premier League.

It has been a turbulent time for the Argentine star due to his split from long-time girlfriend Cervantes.

Cervantes followed Fernandes to Benfica when he joined the Portuguese club in 2022 and then moved to London to join her partner when he signed a £107 million deal from Chelsea in January last year. But after just over 18 months, the couple decided to separate.

The couple were together for several 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.

Fernandes is going through a difficult time at Chelsea after being left out of Enzo Maresca’s starting line-up.

Announcing the end of their relationship on Thursday, Cervantes wrote on Instagram: “Today with Enzo we talk about distance from each other. But we will always be a family and will support each other in everything. Because there are two children in the middle who need a lot of our love.

“I know what a man and an excellent father Enzo is and what a heart he has. And that’s enough for me. They don’t want to create wars where there are none.”

Cervantes’ statement indicated that it was an amicable split, and an Argentine journalist provided more details about the split on X.

Julieta Argenta wrote: “He told her he wanted to live on his own. They’re still family, but he feels the need to go through the phase that he missed by choosing family early on.”

Fernandes now faces a battle to return to Chelsea’s top team after failing to live up to expectations since arriving in England. He currently has a modest record of just seven goals and six assists in 74 appearances for Chelsea.