Fernandez's importance to Maresca's Chelsea has never been in doubt - the Italian named the midfielder captain in his first competitive game in charge of the Blues back in August and he has been skipper when Reece James was absent through injury.

His talent has also never been in doubt - after all, the Argentina international won the World Cup aged just 21 and subsequently completed a big-money move to Stamford Bridge seven weeks later.

But the quality of his performances have improved on what seems like an almost weekly basis in recent months, with 16 goal involvements in 26 games for club and country since mid-November.

His six goals and eight assists in 22 games for Chelsea during that time helped the Blues get within touching distance of top spot in the Premier League before injuries contributed to a dip of form which see us fourth in the table with nine games remaining heading into Thursday night's London derby with Tottenham Hotspur.

Enzo's runs into the box seem to be happening with increasingly frequency, meaning he is posing a greater threat on the opposition goal, while his positioning means he is on the ball in more dangerous areas more often.

‘Enzo, since we started, is improving a lot and understanding the game much better,' Maresca explained in his pre-match press conference ahead of Spurs.

'At the beginning he struggled a little bit but is now always doing the right things and is in the right positions.

'The reason why he is scoring and assisting is because he is in the right position. Even with the national team, he was getting into the box, so I’m happy with Enzo.’

You can read Chelsea team news ahead of Tottenham here.