Liam Rosenior, the head coach of Chelsea, has refused to get into a public back-and-forth with Enzo Fernandez’s agent Javier Pastore, who criticised the club’s two-match ban on the Argentine midfielder. The 25-year-old was banned from playing in two games after saying he wanted to live in Madrid one day. This sparked rumours that he might move to Real Madrid, as reports heavily linked him to the Spanish giants.
Fernandez didn’t play in Saturday’s 7-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over League One side Port Vale, but he went to the game at Stamford Bridge to cheer on his teammates. The World Cup winner will also miss the important Premier League game against Manchester City next weekend, with Liam Rosenior sanctioning Fernandez for two games. His camp is not happy with this decision.
Pastore told The Athletic that the punishment was too harsh and that Fernandez had not disrespected the club in any way. After the big win over Port Vale, Rosenior didn’t pay much attention to the agent’s complaints in his post-match press conference:
“That’s his opinion. I don’t have anything to say on someone else’s opinion. Enzo knows what I think of him and it was brilliant to see him here to support the players today. We’ll move forward and make sure we have a really good run-in in the season.”
Rosenior also wouldn’t say if Fernandez had apologised to his teammates, saying that those kinds of talks should stay private:
“The conversations I have with my individual players when it comes to things like this stay within. The dressing room is sacred. I made it really clear what I think of him as a person. He’s a top, top guy.”
The Chelsea manager went on to say that the situation might not be as bad as people think. He said that he had a good one-on-one talk with Fernandez on match day:
“Enzo and I are in a very good place. I saw him today, had a really good conversation with him today one-to-one, and things aren’t what people maybe think they are.”
Rosenior seems calm, but things may be more complicated behind the scenes than the head coach is willing to say.
Fernandez’s Agent Confirms Contract Talks With Chelsea Have Broken Down
Pastore said that talks about renewing Fernandez’s contract with Chelsea fell through after they started around December or January. The agent said that even though Fernandez’s deal runs until 2032, the terms on the table were not good enough.
He also added that the player deserves a much higher salary because of how well he is playing currently. Pastore further noted that he plans to meet with Chelsea again after the 2026 World Cup and look into other options if no deal is reached.
Chelsea are said to be working on a record-breaking contract extension that could pay Fernandez more than £400,000 a week. However, it is not clear whether that will be enough to deter Real Madrid’s interest. The Blues would need to get at least £80 million for the midfielder to avoid losing money on him, but sources have told ESPN that they value the Argentine at more than £100 million.