11 February 2023 , 06:00
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Enzo Fernandez appeared on David Moyes’ radar before Chelsea’s £107m signing became the breakout star of last year’s World Cup - having been tipped off by Benfica’s head coach.
And while the West Ham manager’s conversation with Roger Schmidt was not an inquiry around the Argentina midfielder’s transfer availability - “not at that price, it wasn’t,” Moyes said - he came away from their chat aware that big clubs were already circling.
Moyes expects the British record signing to become a big success but not just yet as he looks to prey on a new-look Chelsea ’s race to find some chemistry.
The Scot certainly does not envy Graham Potter’s task of finding a best 11 after the Blues spent more than £300m last month to bring in eight new faces.
“I knew about him when he was at Benfica,” Moyes said of Fernandez. “I spoke to the Benfica manager about him in November, who'd given him incredible praise about how good of a player he was. So I knew he was on the radar. And obviously, the World Cup highlighted what his capabilities were.”
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While Potter tries to find the right formula, opposition managers are scratching their heads attempting to predict how Chelsea, who travel to Borussia Dortmund for a Champions League round of 16 tie on Wednesday, will line up.
And Moyes admits that presents challenges for his own coaching staff.
“We try to give the players the information we can about the opposition,” he said. “The players aren't daft. They'll have watched the World Cup, seen recent Premier League games. But it's quite difficult with Chelsea because they have got so many new players in.
“It’s very difficult to predict. You need to try and work it out, balance who is playing and who isn't. They've got a Champions League game on Wednesday and I wouldn't know which order becomes more important.
“With the players that they've got, they're probably both equally as important - the Premier League and Champions League. We'll go up against what he considers his best side.”
Moyes also offered up some striking praise for Potter and stressed that patience is required for an "exceptional" coach to get his ideas across to so many new players.
West Ham manager David MoyesHe added: "It can take time, I can tell you that with us bringing new players in. I think when you spend £600million, it should give you half a chance. But money isn’t the only thing to do with football, you’ve got to get the team right, you’ve got to get other parts of it going well.
"Graham Potter is an exceptional manager. It wouldn’t matter whether he's been given 17 new players or whether he’s had 17 who have been there for a long time. He’s still an exceptional coach, it won’t change his abilities, it’s great news that a British manager has got a chance to manage one of the top clubs in the country and from that point of view, I think he will go on to do a really good job."
West Ham remain without injured trio Kurt Zouma, Gianluca Scamacca and Maxwell Cornet, while Thilo Kehrer is a doubt having strained a hamstring against Newcastle last weekend.
But Moyes is seeing positive signs from a squad that underwent its own remake last summer.
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He added: “We've actually gone three or four games and we've picked up some good results. There are signs we're getting back into a little bit more rhythm but that can change when you're playing big opposition. I do feel we're beginning to settle and get used to the new boys as well.”