Enzo Maresca and Enzo Fernandez look set to be reunited. Photo: Getty Images
Despite Chelsea putting a transfer deadline on Enzo Fernandez, which has passed, it seems more and more likely the World Cup winning midfielder will depart Stamford Bridge in the next 24 hours.
The BBC reports that Manchester City have “opened talks” with Chelsea to ignite one of the window’s biggest headlines.
$AUD 227 million is the reported starting point (*£120m), with the price tag being negotiated for the 25-year-old, who would reunite with Enzo Maresca if he leaves Chelsea, threatening Alexander Isak’s Premier League transfer record, $236 million (£*125m).
The Italian wants to work with the Argentinian midfielder again, having left Chelsea partway through last season after winning the Club World Cup.
The BBC reports suggest this is only the first time formal discussions have taken place, dispute incessant rumours of this move over the last month.
The player was increasingly keen on a move, according to reports, because of Chelsea’s lack of European football, but was left red faced when a courtship with Real Madrid left did not materialise into anything, which turned him offside with the Blues faithful.
With City needing to replace Tijani Reijnders, Rodri, Nico Gonzalez and Bernardo Silva, they could end up breaking their own transfer record twice, having already done so to procure Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.
Fernandez was left out of Chelsea’s squad against Brighton & Hove Albion on the weekend.
“We’ll see. We want the best for the team and that’s why we made the decision [to leave Fernandez out] against Luton and today,” Alonso said to reporters.
“Anything that happens before Tuesday evening, we need to be aware of what is going to develop. We are not sure, we are preparing for all the scenarios.”
With deadline looming, Fernandez’s attention on Tuesday AEST was back home, with news of Lionel Messi’s retirement from international duty with Argentina.
Enzo Fernandes. Photo: Getty Images
The pair celebrated a World Cup win together in 2022.
Fernandez wrote on Instagram: “Leo, when you said that time that you were leaving the national team, I was really sad.
“I was just a kid, and I used to do the math with your age and mine to see if I might ever get the chance to play with you one day. It sounds silly, but I really did it.
“I would think about how many years you might have left, how many l still needed before making it to the first team, and I dreamed that, even if it was just once, we could wear the Argentina shirt together.
“Luckily, you came back. And life ended up being so much more beautiful than that kid could ever have imagined.
“Not only did I get to play with you. We shared training camps, locker rooms, conversations, hugs, difficult moments, incredible moments, and we ended up becoming world champions together.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi (L) with Enzo Fernandez. Photo: Getty Images
“But more than anything, I’ll always be grateful for the way you treated me from the moment I arrived. I came in dreaming of sharing the pitch with my idol, and instead I found someone who, from the very beginning, made me feel like I belonged.
“You always had a word for me, a piece of advice, a hug, or simply a way of making me feel calm when I needed it. I’ll never forget that.
“Today, it’s hard for me to imagine the next training camp without you. Walking onto the pitch and not seeing you up ahead, wearing the No. 10. After so many years of seeing you there, it feels impossible to imagine it any other way.
“How lucky I was, Leo. How lucky that kid was, doing the math without knowing if he would ever make it in time.”