Frank Lampard has hailed Enzo Fernandez as the ‘standout’ player at Chelsea since his return to the club but was unable to confirm if the midfielder had signed another contract with the club.
Fernandez has impressed in west London since his record-breaking £107million move from Benfica during the January transfer window.
Despite Chelsea struggles – they have slipped to 11th in the Premier League and are on verge of Champions League exit – and Fernandez has shown glimpses of his potential.
The 22-year-old signed an eight-and-a-half year contract at Stamford Bridge after joining Chelsea and they have reportedly taken advantage of a clause in his contract to extend his deal even further, until 2032.
Lampard was unable to confirm this at his pre-match press conference on Friday but did praise the Argentina World Cup winner and backed him for success.
‘I can’t confirm that, I don’t know actually, sorry about that,’ Lampard said when asked the contract speculation.
‘I’ve got enough on my plate really to be looking to dissect everyone’s contract at the club.
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‘The only thing I can say is that from working with Enzo he has been a standout character and player for me in this last week in terms of his attitude and quality.
‘Even though he’s only been here a short time I think he’s a fantastic player for this club going forward and exactly the sort of profile and type of player we’ve been talking about. The contract stuff I’m not aware of.’
‘They’ve had a fantastic model,’ former Everton manager Lampard said of Brighton. ‘They’ve come up, stabilised their Premier League status and moved up over the past six or seven years.
‘That is their path; Chelsea’s is a different one. This is a club that has been successful over a period of a long period of time.
‘We have to understand when you’re in a process and a project that you’ll have to dig in and not focus on too much opinion.’
