The situation is dire at Manchester United. A plethora of players like Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, and Juan Mata are running down their contracts and the duo of Fred and Scott McTominay are nowhere near the perfect duo. If the 4–0 humbling by Brighton Hove and Albion is anything to come by one could see that Man Utd as a team were so poor.
One could see that change from top to bottom is needed. The incoming boss Erik ten Hag has a few players in his mind when he does an overhaul.
The focus is on the midfield for now as the call for a defensive midfielder is much needed to catch up to Liverpool and Man City. Man Utd have been linked with Enzo Fernandez who currently plays for Argentina powerhouse, River Plate.
Fernandez primarily plays as a central midfielder, but he doesn’t have any problem slotting into defensive midfield roles.
Fernandez started his career in the River Plate academy in 2006, and he moved through the development process to make for the Primeira division in January 2019.
Looking at his season heatmap we can see that Enzo has operated mostly in the midfield, going forward to middle third.
We will look at some of the stats of Bueno Aires native. His first touch is very sleek and smooth which allows him to circulate play to the teammates at a fast tempo, which is very important in escaping from opposition pressure. He likes to play one-two touch with his teammates mostly in the final third. He would play between the lines usually to receive the possession before spreading the ball into the wide areas. He has made 76.3 touches per 90.
The Argentinian is known for threading up passes and he would usually send a defense-splitting pass to his teammates. Even though he has 0 assists to his name this season in Copa Libertadores and 5 assists in Copa de la Superliga, he has created many chances for his teammates to score or score a goal. His weak foot is equally good as his right foot. He usually sends accurate passes with his left foot. His long passes are good as he usually sends the long diagonal ball to the onrushing wingers or wingback.
Even when the space is congested he can make accurate passes. He has made a total of 84% accurate passes or 52.1 passes per 90. The Argentinian has created 6 big chances for his teammates, and he has made 2.4 key passes per 90. He has made 92% of accurate passes in his own half, and what’s surprising is that he has made 80% of accurate passes or 36.9 per 90 accurate passes in the opposition half. It clearly shows he is an amazing passer of the ball. His long balls are pretty decent, as he has made 72% of accurate long passes, or 4.2 passes per 90. He is a deep-lying playmaker who likes to operate play from deep, dictating the tempo of the game.
Fernandez is very slick on the ball as he can dribble past players at ease, which is pleasing. He has bags of tricks or two in his pocket as he uses his skills to evade his markers. He ranks 71% in successfully dribbling past players or 0.9 dribbles per 90.
Coming to his defensive stats he can be late while making challenges which usually leads to fouls. He usually regains possession by dispossessing opponents with his muscle strength. He usually intercepts the cross of the opponents by shielding the destination of the cross to calmly regain possession and drive the ball forward.
The Bueno Aires native has made 0.6 interceptions per game, he has made 2.1 tackles per 90 and made 0.2 goal line clearances per game. He has recovered possession of the ball 0.7 times per game. He has made a total duel of 4.6 per 90 out of which he has won 52% of ground duels or made 4.6 duels per 90. He won 44% of duels which he contested aerially. He made 3.8 aerial duels per 90. He usually doesn’t jump to make tackles. It’s proven by his only 1 yellow card and 1.0 fouls per 90.
He has a keen eye for goals as in Superliga he has contributed 6 goals and 2 goals in Libertadores. He has lethal vision as he likes to shoot from a distance. He has taken a total of 7 shots out of which 3 were on target. He has a total of 2.4 (including both the tournaments) per 90 out of which he has converted 0.6 of them.
From the above, we can see that he has scored 2 goals inside the six yards box. From above, we can see that he had made a few shots from distance but he was unlucky because those shots either hit the frame or were parried away by the goalkeeper or it was a shot that went wide.
We can see that his expected threat is mostly down in the middle of the park. He ranks 2.8 per 90 in the expected threat.
Enzo is another midfielder who is linked to Manchester United along with almost all the players who are linked with the Red Devils. Everyone knows that Man United needs to revamp their first eleven and they are in dire need of a midfielder. United sent scouts to Buenos Aires to watch him in action against Fortaleza, and they were impressed with what they saw. Enzo scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win over Fortaleza. They are after him as in 2022 alone in 11 matches which he played he scored 7 goals. United are looking for that kind of midfielder who also contributes to scoring goals.
United are not the only team Enzo has been linked with, as per rumors, he is also linked with Premier League champions Manchester City who are looking to replace the veteran Fernandinho who declined the proposal to stay at City and is opting for a move to Brazil. Real Madrid is also after him as they are looking for midfield reinforcement. Arsenal, if they make it to the Champions League spot, would require reinforcements, and they have identified him as the man to replace Granit Xhaka who might leave the Emirates this summer.
Will Enzo make his move to United, City or Real Madrid or Arsenal remains to be seen.
