THE NOTEBOOK: Rivals slam Chelsea's spending and Fernandez shows class

02/03/2023

THE NOTEBOOK: Rivals hit out at Chelsea’s spending, Enzo Fernandez is quick to show why he cost £107m… and spare a thought for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Chelsea were held 0-0 by Fulham at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League
Enzo Fernandez made his debut but it was another frustrating game for the Blues
Below, Sportsmail picks out what you might have missed from Friday’s clash

Chelsea were held to another dour draw in the Premier League on Friday when they played out a stalemate with Fulham.

New £107m signing Enzo Fernandez made his debut from the start while £26m new boy Noni Madueke came off the bench in the second half.

Fernandez was quick to show his quality after being brought in for a British-record transfer fee and Graham Potter will be pleased with what he saw.

But spare a thought for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who was left out of Chelsea’s Champions League squad to make way for new signings, while he didn’t even make the bench for the clash against Fulham.

Here, Sportsmail‘s James Sharpe has picked out some of the things you may have missed from Stamford Bridge on Friday…

Chelsea were held to another stalemate in the Premier League when they faced Fulham

RIVALS SPIKY REPONSE TO SPENDING

When asked to comment on Todd Boehly’s spending spree yesterday, Jurgen Klopp suggested it best to ‘say nothing without my lawyer’ – and a quick glance down the team-sheet at Stamford Bridge helped understand why.

Chelsea’s starting XI tonight night cost £488million, a few bob short of half a billion quid, and that still included four players who were either free transfers or came through the academy.

The three starting January signings of Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Benoit Badiashile set Boehly back nearly £230m between them. Mudryk only lasted until half-time.

If that were not gilded enough, nearly £200m was sat plucking splinters on the bench.

‘I don’t understand how it’s possible, but it’s not for me to explain how it works,’ said Klopp.

Pep Guardiola couldn’t resist a pop either. The Man City boss was surprised, in the face of such spending, that Chelsea were not ‘a state club’. In fairness, he should know.

Both Jurgen Klopp (L) and Pep Guardiola (R) hit out at Chelsea’s heavy spending last month

Chelsea made eight signings during the January transfer window including Joao Felix on loan

CHELSEA CELEBRATE CHINESE NEW YEAR

Stamford Bridge has embraced the Chinese New Year. Red paper lanterns lined walkways to the stadium while the big screen on the side of the West Stand played messages of good luck and prosperity for the new year.

They even handed out fortune cookies in the media suite instead of biscuits. It’s the year of the rabbit, by the way. Fitting when you consider how quickly this Chelsea squad has multiplied.

FULHAM FANS QUICK TO TAUNT £106M FERNANDEZ

Enzo Fernandes did not have to get much wrong for the Fulham fans to tune up the band. A pass straight out of play, a long-range shot into the advertising hoardings, and up they started: ‘what a waste of money!’

Is that what you get for £107m? Thankfully for Graham Potter, Fernandez showed what influence he will have at Chelsea.

He won the most tackles and duels of any Chelsea player, played the most passes inside the Fulham half while only centre-backs Thiago Silva and Benoit Badiashile had more touches of the ball.

Enzo Fernandez made his Chelsea debut against Fulham and showed signs of his quality

CAN CHELSEA SUPPORTERS RECOGNISE NEW BOYS?

Chelsea spent £318m on eight new signings in January and welcomed summer signing Gabriel Slonina back from loan. It wasn’t exactly easy to keep track… so how many Chelsea fans know all of their nine new boys?

Before this game we went to Stamford Bridge to find out.

Watch the video HERE

CHELSEA NIGHTMARE CONTINUES FOR AUBAMEYANG

Spare a thought for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Signed for a reunion with Thomas Tuchel only for the manager to be sacked.

Then Chelsea spent half a billion on a host of new players, none of them a striker, and he still got left out of their Champions League squad in a side that can’t score.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Chelsea career went from bad-to-worse on Friday evening

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