Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji seemed to quite clearly aim a dig at Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez after yesterday’s big Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
Man City started their bid for a fifth Premier League title in a row with a 2-0 win away to Chelsea, thanks to goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic, while it was a losing start for new Blues manager Enzo Maresca.
Still, there was also plenty of controversy about Fernandez going into this game, as he captained Chelsea despite videos recently emerging of him appearing to take part in racist chanting after Argentina’s Copa America victory.
BBC Sport reported on this last month and stated that Fernandez faced disciplinary action from Chelsea, while Fabrizio Romano also reported in the X post below about the player apologising to his teammates and making a donation to an anti-discrimination charity…
?? Enzo Fernandez back with rest of Chelsea squad yesterday in Atlanta.
He apologised to the players after the racist chant; he’s told Chelsea he will be making a significant contribution to an anti-discrimination charity.
Reece James and Disasi, lead figures in the process. pic.twitter.com/r0stiRhXxK
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 30, 2024
Akanji, meanwhile, seemed to enjoy the fact that he got the better of Fernandez, as the Argentine featured in two of his three pictures on Instagram after the game.
See below for the images the City defender uploaded, while you can also see a number of users picking up on what he was doing in the comments…
Even if Chelsea seem to have dealt with the matter internally, it’s perhaps not too surprising that there are players out there who won’t take too well to the fact that Fernandez is still playing for the club, and also captaining them for some reason.
Reece James, the first choice captain, is currently out injured, but there are still numerous other options Maresca could have selected to take the armband, rather than a relatively young and inexperienced player who hasn’t even performed very well in his time in west London.
City take on Ipswich at home in their next game, while Chelsea are away to Wolves next weekend.