Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca, Chelsea badge and Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez - copyright F365
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca and Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez
Chelsea have been accused of “bluffing” over the potential sale of Enzo Fernandez amid ongoing links with Manchester City.
The Blues value the midfielder at around £120million, with the 25-year-old still having nearly six years left on his contract.
Possible suitors for the Argentina international had until mid-August to meet that fee but after Chelsea’s deadline passed, the west London outfit were hopeful that he would stay put.
However, after being left out of their wins over Luton Town in the Carabao Cup and Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League, belief is growing that he could join Enzo Maresca’s side before the 11pm deadline on 1 September.
When asked why Fernandez was left out of the Brighton game, head coach Xabi Alonso said, “We assess what’s best for the team. We need the team to be focused.”
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And despite Man City spending around £200m on midfielders Ayyoub Bouaddi and Elliot Anderson, Fernandez is said to be firmly on their radar.
Many questioned why Man City decided to sell talismanic figure Rodri to Barcelona this summer, but if they can recruit the former Benfica man, perhaps that will go some way to filling the Spaniard’s shoes.
Chelsea need to sell Enzo Fernandez to appease UEFA
Aside from these transfer reports, football finance expert Stefan Borson believes that Chelsea’s stance on Fernandez has been something of a smokescreen.
He pointed out that Chelsea will lose up to £100m by not being in European football this season and to balance the books, they do need to move Fernandez on.
Borson claims that is because of their high wages, their relative lack of income from their 40,000-seater stadium, and spending around £340m on players this summer.
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He said on talkSPORT, “When Fernandez signs for [Man] City, which I think is inevitable. Chelsea have done a great job bluffing it out. But I think they need to sell, for the UEFA settlement.
“I think they could sell either in January or next June but my reading of their numbers, even with their very active sales this summer, they do need a bit more profit.
“This season they are going to be £80-100m down from having no European football and they are not in the best place to cope with that just because it’s a relatively small stadium; they are adding costs because they have been active in bringing wages in, and their wage bill remains stubbornly high.
“I do think they need that profit, it would be a big profit, and I do think they need that for the settlement agreement.”
Earlier this summer, Chelsea were among a number of teams fined by UEFA for breaching financial sustainability regulations. After falling afoul of UEFA’s squad cost rule, the Blues were fined £2.6m – £1.7m of which was suspended.
In July, the west London outfit were fined £10m by the FA for some dubious agent deals under former Blues owner Roman Abramovich. This, and more, is why Chelsea need to watch their finances.
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