Chelsea set Man City deadline for £120m Fernandez bid
Chelsea have lost patience with Manchester City over the latter’s interest in Enzo Fernández and say that no bid later than 5pm on Friday will be entertained.
Given that the two clubs could agree a deal for the Argentina international right up to the transfer window deadline of 11pm on September 1, it remains to be seen whether Chelsea follow through on the threat. The club want £120m for the midfielder, whom they paid £106m to sign from Benfica three years ago.
Fernández has been unhappy with his situation at Chelsea since the departure of Enzo Maresca as manager on January 1, and he was excluded from the team in April for two games after remarks made about the club on international duty. It looked then that Fernández thought a move to Real Madrid might be possible this summer, although that seems never to have been on the cards.
Chelsea feel that City’s interest is longstanding and that their Premier League counterparts should not run the negotiations to the last day of the window. City, who have their own transfer tango afoot with Rodri and Barcelona might well view it differently. The Catalan club have so far refused to meet the valuation for Spain’s World Cup-winning captain.
While Chelsea say they are happy for Fernández to stay, it looks like the clubs are moving into some kind of endgame over the player’s transfer, although the arbitrary deadline will probably not prevent it going ahead much later in the month.
City have a lot of excellent midfielders, even potentially without Rodri, although it would appear that the Dutchman Tijjani Reijnders might be considered for sale if space had to be made. That still leaves new £118m signing Elliot Anderson, as well as Nico González and Mateo Kovacic. Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden operate around that area, too.
Fernández, 25, was a favourite of Maresca at Chelsea and it is likely that City will wish to give Pep Guardiola’s successor his pick of at least one major signing. Fernández has not always proved an easy character to manage, although Maresca seems to have the measure of him. Fernández effectively went on strike to force his move away from Benfica.
He is an attacking midfielder who covers a lot of ground, and most closely aligned among the conventional positions to a No 8. In that regard he may complement Anderson, although the Englishman is much more of a No 8 than a No 6. City are also interested in the Morocco international Ayyoub Bouaddi at Lille, a defensive No 6-style midfielder who would probably also command a fee in excess of £100m.
The Argentine did not endear himself to England fans at the World Cup with his goal celebration in his country’s semi-final victory, although one suspects that whatever team’s fans he plays for next season will be happy to overlook that.-Telegraph
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