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Before the end of the January transfer season, Chelsea is apparently planning another enormously expensive bid for Benfica midfielder and Argentina international Enzo Fernandez.
The Blues are preparing a second proposal and are clearly anxious to recruit Enzo Fernandez of Benfica, one of the World Cup’s most promising emerging players.
The Blues have been linked to the World Cup breakthrough hero all month, but their earlier attempts to sign him failed as the Portuguese giants quickly turned down their first official offer.
Chelsea, on the other hand, is reportedly unwilling to accept a rejection and is preparing a second formal offer for the 22-year-old.
According to the Portuguese publication Record, those in charge at Stamford Bridge remain hopeful that the two clubs can come to a deal and that Fernandez will soon be playing in West London.
The club is sure that Fernandez won’t be leaving for the rest of the season until a buyer triggers his £105 million release clause, despite widespread belief that he wants out and is said to have told Benfica officials explicitly of that.
SL Benfica affirms that at no time did the President of the Club, Rui Costa, express the comments that are being reported in Italy by DAZN.
Benfica are so convinced he will stay put that they actually made a statement affirming as much.
“Enzo Fernández will continue to be a part of Sporting Lisbon and Benfica’s lineups until the completion of the current campaign.”
After returning to his country to celebrate the New Year with his family, Fernandez was actually benched by his club for the match against Portimonense at home earlier this month.
This prompted a statement from manager Roger Schmidt, who outlined his justification for briefly benching the World Cup winner.
“You now have a blank canvas. He is our player, and in order for us to win championships, we depend on him. He wasn’t on the squad today because what he did was wrong,” according to the coach.
Schmidt has publicly criticized a number of people, including Fernandez. A few weeks ago, the Benfica manager responded angrily to Chelsea’s initial offer, accusing the Blues of showing “disrespect.”
“We are not interested in selling Enzo. Everyone is aware of the clause in the athlete’s contract that states that if the player wants to leave and someone comes along and pays the clause, we cannot interfere.
The player may then be lost to us because another club is interested in him. They are conscious of our desire to keep the player.
They made an effort to win the player over, but they are aware that they can only do so if they fulfill the stipulation.”
