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Man City “have offered” €120m (£102.6m) for Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez, according to reports.
Tribuna.com claim that the proposal does fall short of the Argentinian international’s £120m asking price.
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However, the Cityzens are making every effort to sign Fernandez at the request of head coach Enzo Maresca, who is believed to be “pushing” for the move to happen.
At the time of writing, it is not known how Chelsea will respond to the rumoured offer.
A deadline has been imposed for Fernandez’s transfer
Chelsea have reportedly made it clear to potential suitors – most notably City – that they will not consider bids after 5 PM BST on Friday afternoon.
This hard deadline has been put in place as they do not want the start of the season clouded by uncertainty surrounding Fernandez’s future.
The midfielder has been on the market all summer, with talks over a new contract having reached an impasse several months ago.
Fernandez is also reportedly unhappy that Chelsea failed to qualify for the Champions League, while the departure of Maresca from Stamford Bridge in January is said to be another important factor in his determination to leave.
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Man City may have a trump card in Maresca
Up until recently, it was thought that Fernandez was only interested in moving to Real Madrid, but the La Liga giants made a public statement earlier this summer that they were not looking to sign the player.
That gave City an opening, with Maresca seen as an influential figure who could persuade the 25-year-old to make the switch to the Etihad.
As mentioned, the pair have a good working relationship, with Fernandez taking Maresca’s departure from Chelsea pretty hard. They could potentially be reunited, although Chelsea might still make things difficult.
Relations between the two clubs is decidedly frosty following the nature of Maresca’s appointment as City boss, so there will be no love lost in negotiations.