Joe Cole Backs Enzo Fernandez to Replace Rodri at Manchester City
Joe Cole has thrown his weight behind Enzo Fernandez as the man to step into Rodri’s shoes at Manchester City – then immediately warned that even the Argentina star might not be enough on his own.
The former Chelsea and England winger believes Fernandez is the standout option as City scour the market for midfield reinforcements after Rodri’s move to Barcelona ripped the heart out of Pep Guardiola’s engine room.
“What a man to try and replace”
Rodri didn’t just anchor City’s midfield. He controlled entire games. The Spaniard became the tactical heartbeat of a side that dominated English football, a metronome and a shield rolled into one, and Cole made no attempt to play down the scale of the hole he leaves behind.
“What a man to try and replace,” Cole told Paddy Power. “Rodri is one of the all-time Premier League greats. Such a unique footballer.”
That is the standard Fernandez is being measured against as speculation intensifies over a move from Chelsea to the Etihad. The 23-year-old has been heavily linked with a switch, and Cole is convinced the profile fits: technically gifted, brave on the ball, and used to the weight of expectation.
Cole believes the saga has all the ingredients to run deep into the window.
“This Enzo saga will definitely drag on, because what you’ve got is a player who wants to move on and is wanted by multiple clubs. Both parties have put a marker down, so it seems to me it’s just about money now.”
“City tend to get their man”
Money, of course, is where City usually find an edge.
“Manchester City tend to find money from somewhere, don’t they?” Cole added. “Wherever they find it from, that’s down to the FA and everyone else to figure out!”
The pressure on City’s recruitment team is obvious. Replace Rodri badly and the entire structure of the side shifts. Get it right and Guardiola has the platform to go again.
Cole is adamant Fernandez would be a high-class answer.
“But they tend to get their man, and he’s a great player,” he said. “I think he’s perfect for the job.”
Yet even as he talked up the World Cup winner, Cole underlined just how far-reaching Rodri’s influence had become. One signing, even a marquee one, might not be enough.
“Replacing Rodri, you need two players to do that, even two top quality players like [Elliot] Anderson and Fernandez. I personally believe that deal will get done.”
City, then, are not just chasing a midfielder. They are trying to rebuild a midfield identity – and Cole is convinced Enzo Fernandez will be at the centre of that rebuild if the chequebook opens wide enough.
