Transfers in the middle of this season in the Premier League are quite interesting to watch, especially in the final days. Established teams seem to be pressed for time to get players who are judged to be able to make a difference or strengthen the strength of the squad that has been built in the middle of the past season.
Chelsea and Arsenal are two teams that are keen to find new players in the mid-season transfers. Chelsea is again the leading team as well as the most generous team in buying players.
After loaning Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid, Chelsea also poured 70 million euros for wing striker Mykhaylo Mudryk. Besides Mudryk, Chelsea also bought Noni Madueke and Benoit Badiashile. The most recent edition is a young player, Enzo Fernandez. The player who performed admirably at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is indeed the target of many top clubs in Europe.
However, it was Chelsea who was quite daring to pour out a large amount of money to buy the player from Argentina. Reportedly, Chelsea had to spend 105 million pounds or the equivalent of 1.9 trillion to buy Enzo from Benfica.
In fact, Benfica bought Enzo with 10 million dollars in August last year. Hence, Benfica received great fortune because Enzo’s light attracted more attention when playing with Argentina in the 2022 World Cup.
Enzo’s arrival at Chelsea was accompanied by the departure of experienced midfielder Jorginho to Arsenal. With this, it seems that Enzo has been lined up as a replacement for Jorginho in the Chelsea midfield.
It’s hard to avoid that expectations are growing for Enzo at Chelsea. The price is quite high. In fact, the price is included in the price category for the most expensive player in England, and exceeds the price assigned to Jack Grealish, who was purchased by Manchester City in 2021.
At some point, the price can become a burden as well as a challenge for a player. Enzo is expected to be Chelsea’s backbone to get out of difficult situations this season. The very first task is to help improve Chelsea’s performance from 10th place in the Premier League standings.
Of course, the situation is very difficult if Chelsea, who have been generous in spending on players this season, have to be thrown out of the Champions League next season.
Especially if Chelsea failed to play in the European Cup. This was a very serious blow because the amount of money the club has poured out this season is inversely proportional to Chelsea.
The Enzo purchase may have come at the right time. The midfield has been one of Chelsea’s challenges this season. Since the absence of N’Golo Kante and then R. Kovavic, Chelsea’s midfield has lost a level of solidity.
Hence, Chelsea need someone who can be a differentiator in midfield. Especially specifically connecting the back line and the front line of Chelsea. Enzo is not only good at flowing the ball to the front lines, but also solid in dealing with cutting off opponent attacks.
In terms of performance, Enzo has the biggest advantage for Chelsea. Problems in the midfield can at least be resolved with the presence of Enzo.
Furthermore, Enzo’s presence is a long-term investment for Chelsea. This 22-year-old player can become one of Chelsea’s important backbones in Europe for a fairly long period of time.
The challenge is the problem of adaptation in England. The climate at Benfica is very different from Chelsea and the Premier League. It is not certain that the same performance at Benfica or with the Argentina national team will occur in England.
Evidenced by Darwin Nunez who bought Liverpool from Benfica at the start of this season. So far, Nunez is still looking for the right formula to appear consistent with Liverpool.
This is a challenge in itself for Chelsea. Therefore, expecting instant results from Enzo’s presence is something that needs to be avoided so that the player is not squeezed or the club is not disappointed with the price that has been disbursed.
For this reason, profits and losses can haunt Chelsea from player transfers this January, including the expensive purchase of Enzo from Benfica. Not necessarily, all the players bought can increase Chelsea’s performance to the right track.
Most likely, Enzo will be an alternative to leaving Jorginho who was sold to Arsenal. It was quite a surprise when Chelsea let Jorginho go to a rival team, Arsenal, who were temporarily at the top of the Premier League standings.
In fact, Jorginho’s performance this season is not so bad. In a word, Jorginho appeared in 18 matches and recorded 2 assists. Indeed, the performance is somewhat inconsistent. Perhaps Jorginho has lost suitable partners like Kovacic and Kante.
Jorginho will be a suitable back-up for Thomas Partey and Xhaka Granit in midfield. If judging from the statistics of the three players, all three have relatively the same record this season.
Therefore, the presence of Jorginho can strengthen Arsenal’s performance until the end of the season, especially in pursuit of the Premier League trophy. Yes, midfield duo Partey and Xhaka have been one of the keys to Arsenal’s consistent success at the top of the Premier League standings. Both of them managed to help in dealing with the flow of the ball to attack while maintaining the solidity of the back line.
The challenge for Arteta when one of these two players is absent. Hence, the presence of Jorginho can close the hole left. Furthermore, Jorginho has an impressive track record during his 4 and a half years at Chelsea. Jorginho has always been the first choice in Chelsea’s midfield.
In terms of experience, Arsenal does not need time to see the best performance from the Italian national team player. Jorginho may only adapt to coach Mikel Arteta’s tactics and the rest of the football climate remains the same as he experienced at Chelsea.
Therefore, the purchase of Jorginho, which is worth 14.75 million dollars from Chelsea, can provide a big advantage in helping Arsenal win trophies this season.
