Enzo Fernandez's evolution into a Frank Lampard-esque goal threat and how Chelsea benefit

London — When Frank Lampard took interim charge of Chelsea in April 2023, the club was hurtling toward its worst league finish of the modern era, yet the outgoing caretaker manager offered a ray of optimism. “Enzo gets it,” Lampard said of the then-22-year-old Argentine. “I’ve got a lot of faith that Enzo will be a big part of what happens here in the future of the club.”

Barely 30 months later, Fernandez has not merely vindicated that prediction; he has morphed into the most prolific goal-scoring No. 8 to wear blue since the man who uttered those words. The transformation is so pronounced that Opta data now places Fernandez second only to striker Joao Pedro for “cross-receiver runs” into the penalty area at Chelsea this season, a metric that quantifies the sort of ghosting movements Lampard once turned into an art form.

From Single Six to Shadow Striker

Signed from Benfica in January 2023 as Jorginho’s replacement, Fernandez was initially deployed as the deepest midfielder. Lampard quickly flagged the mismatch. “He probably has more to offer than to be a single six,” the caretaker noted, urging a shift to a double-pivot or advanced eight where “he can join the game more.”

Successive head coaches have taken the hint. Under Mauricio Pochettino the positional creep began; under Enzo Maresca and now Liam Rosenior it has become full-blown liberation. Touch-maps show Fernandez’s activity migrating steadily into the final third, while the average distance of his shots has almost halved since his debut campaign. The payoff: a conversion rate that has leapt from six per cent in 2023-24 to 17 per cent in 2025-26.

Late Runs, Cold Finishes

Fernandez’s last 11 Chelsea appearances have delivered six goals; three from the penalty spot, three from open play. That already equals his non-penalty best for a Premier League season with 14 fixtures remaining. Should he add four more, he would join Cole Palmer and Mason Mount as the only Chelsea midfielders to reach double figures without penalties since Lampard in 2012-13.

The similarities do not end in the spreadsheet. Speaking to Sky Sports this week, Fernandez admitted he has studied hours of Lampard footage, fixating on “how he got into those last metres of the pitch.” The homework shows. Against Manchester City last month he mirrored the iconic Lampard surge, prodding in a stoppage-time equaliser after sprinting beyond the last defender. Days later he settled the London derby with West Ham, timing a diagonal burst to sweep Joao Pedro’s cut-back first-time between two retreating centre-backs.

Rosenior, the latest coach entrusted with unlocking Chelsea’s latent talent, believes the Argentine’s athletic profile makes the role switch sustainable. “The distances he covers, in terms of the data, is absolutely top,” the Chelsea boss said. “He can recover really quickly. That allows us to push him into the box knowing he can still press on the reverse transition.”

Numbers That Echo History

Context sharpens the achievement. Lampard scored 27 goals in his first 151 Chelsea appearances; Fernandez sits on an identical 27 after the same number of games. The Englishman finished with 211 in 648 total. Fernandez’s trajectory suggests a comparable hunger, if not yet the same avalanche.

Crucially, this output arrives in a squad devoid of a 20-goal striker. By becoming the secondary goal threat Chelsea have lacked since the Mount/Havertz era, Fernandez eases the creative burden on Palmer and gives Rosenior’s side a multifaceted attack. Opponents can no longer mark one outlet; they must track a midfielder who could pop up on the back post, the edge of the D, or the penalty spot.

The evolution is still accelerating. Fernandez has already registered 26 first-time shots in 2025-26, more than in any previous Premier League campaign, and five of his six league goals have arrived after the 75th minute, testament to both supreme conditioning and an instinct for decisive moments.

Lampard’s legacy at Stamford Bridge is immortalised in bronze outside the Matthew Harding Stand. Fernandez, still only 25, is carving a living homage on the pitch, one late run and crisp finish at a time. If he maintains the current cadence, Chelsea may finally possess the goal-scoring midfielder they thought had left the building with their record-breaking No. 8.