Manchester City Eye Enzo Fernandez as Transfer Deadline Approaches
Manchester City are weighing up a late move for Enzo Fernandez as the transfer window ticks towards its deadline, with Enzo Maresca still pushing hard to land his priority midfield signing.
The Premier League champions have already reacted to Rodri’s departure by bringing in Ayyoub Bouaddi, the highly-rated 18-year-old Morocco international who caught the eye at the World Cup. But Bouaddi is seen as part of a wider rebuild in the middle of the pitch, not the final piece. City want more. Specifically, they want Fernandez.
Maresca has had the Chelsea midfielder at the top of his list for some time, and City’s recruitment team have kept the lines warm despite an earlier ultimatum from Stamford Bridge. Chelsea set a deadline almost two weeks ago: bids up to £120m for Fernandez had to be submitted by a Friday 5pm cut-off. City simply let it pass.
The deadline, though, has not held firm.
When Xabi Alonso was asked about Fernandez last week, he refused to offer guarantees over the player’s future. His message was short: Fernandez was working hard ahead of Chelsea’s Monday Night Football clash with Fulham. No promises, no declarations that he was off the market.
Then came the team sheet at Craven Cottage. With injuries stacking up before Alonso’s first game in charge and Moises Caicedo unavailable, it seemed the perfect moment for Fernandez to step straight into the starting XI. Instead, Alonso went with Reece James alongside Romeo Lavia in central midfield.
Fernandez had to wait his turn. When he did come on, Fulham supporters booed him. Chelsea fans answered with cheers, a far warmer reception than the mixed response he received off the bench against Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge in their final pre-season friendly around 10 days earlier. His situation remains complicated, his future anything but settled.
Over all of this hangs a tense relationship between Chelsea and Manchester City. The fallout from Maresca’s move is still fresh. Chelsea’s season was thrown off course around Christmas when Maresca left, and City had to pay £17m in compensation for their part in the saga. That episode has not been forgotten in west London.
So the key question is no longer just whether City want Fernandez – Maresca clearly does – but what kind of negotiation Chelsea are prepared to entertain with a club they feel aggrieved by. The £120m figure has been out there. Whether that still stands, or whether Chelsea seek an even stronger stance with City at the table, is what executives across the league are waiting to see.
City, for their part, are armed. They have generated a record sum in player sales this window and are expected to have significant funds available. Maresca is pushing for Fernandez, but the club have also kept tabs on Bournemouth’s Alex Scott and Roma’s Manu Kone as alternative midfield options.
The pressure is building as the clock runs down. Chelsea hold a player their new manager has not fully trusted in his first major selection call. City hold the money, the need, and a coach who “loves Fernandez”.
Now it comes down to one thing: how much are Manchester City really willing to pay to give Maresca the midfielder he wants to build his new era around?
