Frank Leboeuf singles out Chelsea's player who lacked fighting spirit against Man City

According to Frank Leboeuf, Enzo Fernandez was identified as Chelsea’s weakest player in Sunday's 2-0 loss to Manchester City due to his lack of readiness to battle on the field.

The Blues lost to Pep Guardiola’s champions at Stamford Bridge in their opening match of the 2024-25 Premier League season, Enzo Maresca’s first game as boss.

Marc Cucurella put in a solid performance – but the rest of the Chelsea team looked very lacklustre – and captain Fernandez particularly struggled against City.

Fernandez, who joined Chelsea in a £106.8m deal in January 2023, largely let his team down in a defensive sense and was far too easy to bypass in midfield.

‘I found Enzo Fernandez the poorest in that game,’ former Chelsea defender Leboeuf told ESPN.

‘He is the skipper. He has to set an example. I didn’t feel he was sharp or ready to fight.

‘They are still trying stuff… I can feel something is getting better at Chelsea. But at the end of the day, if you can’t score goals, because you don’t have a striker, that is a big problem.’

Fernandez was accused of ‘uninhibited racism’ by his own team-mate Wesley Fofana this summer.

That came after Fernandez posted a video on his social media account after Argentina beat Colombia 1-0 in the Copa America final on 14 July.

The clip showed Argentina’s players singing a derogatory song about France’s black players – but Fofana has since confirmed Fernandez has apologised – and they have drawn a line under the incident.

‘I trust him because I know him,’ Fofana said at Chelsea’s pre-season training camp in the United States.

‘I know he is not racist. The act… I felt a little bit upset. But now, it is done. It is finished.

‘I hope this has educated him a bit, because for sure, it is a different culture. We need to educate about this because cultures are different, a lot of countries.’