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**Former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole has criticised Marc Cucurella for his comments encouraging former teammate Enzo Fernandez to join him at Real Madrid.**
The Argentinian international is thought to be a target for the La Liga giants, but Cole does not approve of Cucurella’s actions:
“That’s not for me, what he’s done there. When you hear players doing stuff like that, I think it’s bang out of order. He’s an intelligent man. He knows he’s poking the bear. There’s ways to handle yourself in these situations.”
“If you’re happy to sign a seven-year contract, you can’t then three years into the contract be openly flirting with another football club, regardless of who it is. It’s not for me.”
Chelsea have set their valuation at £120m, and it doesn’t seem the La Liga side are prepared to pay it based on their reluctance to enter club-to-club talks.
It should be noted that Real have been known to use their players to court targets, and Cucurella’s public remarks may well have been designed to unsettle Fernandez even further.
The purpose could be to help lower the price that the Blues are willing to sell for.
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Chelsea are hoping to add a midfielder to their ranks
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While he would not be a replacement for Fernandez per se, the London club are keen on recruiting Sunderland captain [**Granit Xhaka**](https://chelseanews.com/blog/chelsea-transfer-news-granit-xhaka/).
An initial bid worth £8m was turned down, and while an improved offer is expected, the Black Cats are not currently interested in selling, despite the player being very keen on a switch to Stamford Bridge.