Overnight, Argentina confirmed their status as the villains of international football, getting bailed out by dubious official decisions while Lionel Messi blatantly dove his way into free kicks, and yet they still could barely put underdogs Cape Verde down 3-2, needing extra time and heroics from an unlikey source, center back Lisandro Martinez, to bail them out against one of the greatest stories in the history of world football.
For Real Madrid fans, though, the big story relevant to their future was Enzo Fernandez. Despite constant links to the Chelsea star and rumors that Jose Mourinho wants him the most of the midfield targets, the club actually put out a statement that they are not interested in Enzo, and unlike the rather performative one about Michael Olise, they did not leave anything open to interpretation in their wording.
It sounds as though Real Madrid are legitimately off Enzo, as Chelsea are driving a very hard bargain for the player, wanting a fee close to 150 million euros for the player. While Real Madrid could dangle Aurelien Tchouameni as bate, if Chelsea think Enzo is worth more than 50 million euros more than Tchouameni, Real Madrid may not want to negotiate with former manager Xabi Alonso anyway.
Enzo Fernandez is playing himself away from Madrid
And against Cape Verde, Enzo was truly deplorable. He passed the ball around aimlessly, literally created zero chances despite Argentina dominating possession, and barely won the ball or read the game appropriately.
Enzo Fernandez was a weak link, outclassed by the Cape Verde players who showed more heart and quailty than he did. The Argentinian midfielder had more than a handful of unforced errors against the Cape Verde midfielders, turning the ball over triple the amount of times that he had a positive defensive action.
Part of the appeal for Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid with Enzo was the notion that they can get more out of him than Chelsea are, because, in truth, he has come nowhere near the 121 million euro price tag that the Blues paid to Benfica for him.
Enzo was so poor against Cape Verde and so deserving of an elimination that Real Madrid have no reason to rethink closing the door on him. Because if they have indeed shut down Enzo as the statement says, then it honestly looks like the correct decision. Players are defined by how they do in the clutch, and with everything on the line, Enzo could not outplay footballers on less than a percentage point of his wages.
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