Chelsea’s 2022/23 team of the season: 3-4-2-1 featuring Enzo

Reece James, No. 24, Right wingback, England

James is the only realistic candidate here, mainly because he’s the only right wingback at the club. He has been injured for the majority of the season, but he has still been comfortably the best player that has played that role for the Blues. According to SofaScore, James won an impressive 86% of his 2.2 attempted tackles per game, and 66% of his ground duels per game (4.4 successful), the Englishman has been key for CFC defensively this season. James also made 21 key passes for Chelsea in the league, amounting to 2.91 xA. In the Champions League, he averaged 1.8 successful tackles per game and won 4.6 ground duels. His injury affected the side a lot this season.

Enzo Fernandez, No. 5, Central midfielder, Argentina

Fernandez was acquired in January and it was so close to not happening that Chels’ eventually got it over the line literally before the deadline of the winter transfer window. He has since shown what he can do on the ball, and is comfortably the best passer of the ball CFC have. Yes, 120m was a bit excessive, but he is good at what he does. He’s most obvious addition to the side has been his passing, completing 75% of his long balls while completing 7.4 per game. He has made by far the most progressive passes (168) and the most passes into the final third (164) for the Blues, despite arriving halfway through the season. This ball progression has been invaluable for the Blues. The Argentine has also chipped in with big chances, creating three in 18 games.