Manchester City have tonight agreed a fee with Chelsea to sign Enzo Fernandez.
After weeks of talks with Enzo’s agent Javier Pastore, the Citizens arrived this afternoon with formal club-to-club contact. Chelsea engaged in those talks, and a fee was struck late this afternoon for £125m.
This morning, sources told Striver.Football that Chelsea would not sanction the Enzo sale without at least one replacement. However, a decision was taken internally this afternoon that it was better for all sides to move on, even without the possibility of a replacement, with Enzo continuing to push throughout the day for the move to happen.
It is understood that the player engaged in contact with former head coach Enzo Maresca towards the end of last season, which sources saw as a sign of disrespect and a player who was not committed.
Sources say that the issues between Fernandez and Chelsea stemmed from two main things - a wage increase, and a lack of belief from the Argentine in the future Chelsea project.
While figures have not been revealed, it is understood that the player turned down multiple wage increases, with agent Javier Pastore not being able to find a solution with the club.
There was a belief that Pastore as an agent was an “amateur”, and that Fernandez should have sought a different choice, should he have really wanted to agree to a reasonable, structured pay rise.
Though Fernandez was naturally intrigued by the announcement of Xabi Alonso as new Chelsea manager, he is understood to have still had the feeling that there was no guarantee of stability moving forward.
Chelsea engaged in efforts during deadline day to sign a replacement, with Lamine Camara and Manu Kone among top options.
Checks were also made on Tottenham midfielder Lucas Bergvall, but the longer the day has gone on, and with high fees involved from potential selling clubs, plus the fact that replacements would also need to be signed on the opposing end, Chelsea have found it hard to secure a deal.
Sources indicated to Striver.Football that Chelsea would have stood a better chance of landing a big-name target like Adam Wharton or Alex Scott, should they have received this bid earlier on in the window.
Intriguingly, some in the industry believe that leaving the bid to deadline day was a deliberate strategy by Manchester City, so that they could use Fernandez’s extreme desire and pressure to join them in talks with Chelsea, while also putting the London club in a weaker position to strengthen their own squad.
Though checks are still being made on available midfielders, it is currently regarded as unlikely that a signing will happen unless a suitable opportunity presents itself.
