Chelsea handed alarming injury concern as international team release statement

Enzo Fernandez, the Argentine midfielder, has been forced to leave his national team's camp due to a problem with his right knee, sparking fresh injury worries for Enzo Maresca and Chelsea. The 24-year-old was in action for Argentina during their 1-0 friendly victory over Venezuela early Saturday morning.

During his 78-minute stint on the pitch, Fernandez made more passes than any other player before being substituted by Alexis Mac Allister. However, Argentina confirmed on Saturday that Fernandez has now left the camp and will not be participating in the match against Puerto Rico early on Wednesday morning.

The midfielder is set to return to London where he will undergo an assessment by Chelsea's medical team.

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In a statement, Argentina announced: "The Chelsea footballer Enzo Fernández has been withdrawn from the tour due to synovitis in his right knee."

This development could cause significant concern for Maresca as Chelsea are scheduled to play Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Following this, the Blues have a match against Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday, October 22, before hosting Sunderland at Stamford Bridge three days later.

Chelsea currently sit in seventh place in the Premier League, having picked up 11 points from their opening seven games of the season.

They did however go into the current international break on a high. Estevao's 95th minute goal saw them come out as 2-1 winners over Premier League Champions Liverpool.

Fernandez has so far started all of Chelsea's Premier League games in the 2025/26 campaign. The only minutes he missed were when he was taken off in the 79th minute of the season opener against Crystal Palace.

In his appearances he has scored three times and provided one assist. He also wore the captain's armband for the games against West Ham United, Fulham and Brentford.

Last month, Maresca outlined the importance of Fernandez to his squad. "Enzo can play in different positions for us, he can play as a six or as an attacking midfielder," he said.

"We have used him in 90 per cent of our games as an attacking midfielder, and I think he is very good in this position.

"But it depends a little bit on what we think of the game plan. Enzo, for us, is an important player and we try to use him as much as we can.

"The reason why he can have good or bad moments is because of the number of games. For any player, it’s impossible to think that you can play 45 games – or the 64 games we played last season – all at the same level.

"It’s normal that you drop in some games, but we are very happy with Enzo."

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