Enzo Fernandez was one of the stars of the World Cup.
He was the Young Player of the Tournament and a lynchpin in the Argentina midfield as the South Americans won their third title.
As you can imagine, this young man is now being tipped for a move to one of Europe’s elite clubs, and Liverpool are seemingly amongst the most interested parties.
Indeed, the Reds have been strongly linked to Fernandez, and according to some reports, the club are very intent on signing the young star.
However, in our view, the Merseyside club have to tread carefully here.
Indeed, while Fernandez looks like one of the most exciting prospects around at the moment, he remains largely unproven.
He’s only been in Europe for a few months, and while he has been impressive, the fact remains that he has played just 13 league games for Benfica to this point.
Liverpool going all-in on Fernandez amid rumours that he will cost north of €100m would be a huge risk. After all, this wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a young player star at at tournament only to later fall off of the face of the earth.
Denilson did exactly that after making a world record transfer to Real Betis back in 1998 after a standout World Cup, while Renato Sanches was the Young Player of the Tournament at Euro 2016 – but within 18 months of that tournament he was struggling on loan at Swansea City.
Now, we’re not saying that Fernandez is guaranteed to go down that same path, but it is a well-trodden path and a trend that Liverpool do need to be wary of.
Simply put, Fernandez still has a lot to prove at club level, and Liverpool should think twice before spending a potential club-record fee on the player.
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