“Make sure the team wins” – Ex-Super Eagles midfielder advises Enzo Fernandez on how to deal with racism debacle
Former Super Eagles and Chelsea midfielder, John Obi Mikel, has sent out a word of advice to Copa America 2024 winner, Enzo Fernandez after the viral racist incident, Soccernet.ng reports.
Chelsea signed Enzo Fernández in a deal worth £106.8 million after a final agreement with Benfica was reached on the final day of the 2023 winter transfer window. He signed an eight-and-a-half-year contract, valid until 2031.
He went on to play five games in Argentina’s Copa America triumph. Still, things got sour after the 23-year-old made racist remarks to French players of African descent alongside his national teammates on the bus during their celebrations.
Listen, spread the word, they play in France, but they are all from Angola, they are going to run well, they like to sleep with trans people, their mum is Nigerian, and their dad is Cameroonian, but on the passport it says French,” the ex-Benfica man sang.
This has led to an uproar in the Chelsea dressing room, with players in the song bracket unfollowing the Argentine on social media.
Former Chelsea midfielder, John Obi-Mikel, revealed that the euphoria of winning might have taken over at the moment, but maintained Enzo was in the wrong.
“It’s a type of behaviour I won’t condone. These players have different stories; you can’t make fun of them until you understand that. None of them chose to be in this situation, and I get that you want to make fun of them, but it is not right,” the 37-year-old said on the Obi One podcast.
The former River Plate man has issued a public apology for what happened in the video, but Mikel revealed the best way to apologize would be to get to work on the pitch.
“The only way he can settle this is by ensuring the team starts winning. If you start winning, it changes everything because of the celebration, and the hugs. If Enzo comes back, first game and scores a goal. You will see those players going to hug him. They have to go and hug him, they have to go and celebrate with him. Slowly and surely, that brings the team together. The thing is that time is a healer but Chelsea needs to start winning. They need to have a good start to the season if that needs to go away. If they don’t, it lingers and it breeds negativity around the whole place and we don’t want that. We have a bad season. We need to start well, by winning,” the 2013 AFCON winning midfielder concluded.
Enzo is not a part of the Chelsea team that are on a pre-season tour in the United States of America, as he’s currently on holiday.
