Enzo Fernandez believes that his international team-mate, Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez, must have something against Chelsea with the way steps up his performance levels every time he faces the Blues. The Argentina duo will come face to face next Friday for a mouth-watering meeting in the FA Cup fourth round.
Fernandez and Martinez both played prominent roles in Argentina’s stunning World Cup win in 2022. But they fight for different interests at club level, with Villa occupying an unlikely spot in the race for the top four, and Chelsea aiming to put themselves in the mix for European qualification.
Martinez is a big part of Villa’s success under Unai Emery this season, and Fernandez expects his towering countryman to put up another stern front when they fight for a place in the FA Cup fifth round.
“It’s a big deal,” he told ESPN Argentina. “With Chelsea he always gets bigger, I don’t know what he has against us. It’s going to be special to play against Dibu [Martinez].”
Chelsea booked their spot in the FA Cup fourth round courtesy of a resounding 4-0 win at home to Preston North End. A thumping of that calibre has been a rarity under Mauricio Pochettino, who is yet to find his rhythm in the dugout.
The Blues boss has the important matter of a Carabao Cup semi-final second leg weighing on his mind before he can turn his full attention to Villa. Middlesbrough are 1-0 up on aggregate heading into Tuesday’s crunch meeting at Stamford Bridge.
Fernandez insists that, even if Chelsea fall agonisingly short of the final on this occasion, their promising crop of struggling youngsters will come good eventually. “We need time, it’s a process with a lot of new players,” he continued.
“The group came together this year, it isn’t easy to quickly find a good way of playing. But we are doing all we can to find that style as quickly as possible. The day-to-day with Pochettino is really good, he gets very close with the players.
“He is very human and gives us a lot of confidence and ease when it comes to playing. Personally, the first few months were difficult for me – the language, the culture, the weather, it was difficult. Now, as 2024 starts, it’s better, I’m very happy.”
Fernandez has been playing under the weight of hefty expectations since landing in west London for what was then a British record transfer at £107million. That benchmark has since been surpassed, once again by Chelsea, who shelled out £115m for fellow midfielder Moises Caicedo last summer.
