£107m man could sacrifice rest of Chelsea season to play for his country if he takes surgery

We’re now so close to the end of the season that even a small injury can spell the end of a player’s campaign. We’re also into the zone where players start worrying about international tournaments this summer. Any slight Tweak to Harry Kane’s ankle is going to ring alarm bells in the English press, and the same is true of many players from many places.

Increasingly looking like he’s going to be at the centre of a storm this summer, Enzo Fernandez is one of them. He’s struggling with a hernia at the moment, rested on Monday night then played by Mauricio Pochettino (very ineffectively) against Man City on Saturday.

There’s a big argument brewing between Argentina and our coaching staff about how best to use him, as SportWitness explain in their translation of some quotes from Argentina:

“Argentine newspaper Ole points out that if Fernandez had the operation now that would mean he’d be available and fit for the Copa America, but would miss the rest of Chelsea’s season. Mauricio Pochettino wouldn’t be thrilled with that situation, however, and it’s expected the player himself will want to do everything possible to be fit for the summer tournament.

“The coming days and weeks could see a battle of wills between Chelsea and Argentina.”

If he wants to do “everything possible” to be fit – that makes it sound like he’s happy to have the surgery and miss the rest of our season.

A long term solution suits all

We’re all in favour or Enzo getting surgery if that’s the best option for him long term. We would say the same even if it means he misses the rest of this season.

But what we really don’t want to see is Enzo getting surgery, us taking the hit on it, and then the midfielder getting rushed back just to play for his country. That setup sees us take all the risk, and his nation all the reward.

We’re going to have to time-share Enzo with the Argentina team for many years (we spent £107m on him after all), so it’s important to stay on good terms. However it’s also important that we don’t let ourselves get walked all over.