"Why Enzo Fernandez’s Move to Man City Is More Complicated Than It Looks, Even with a £120m Deal Benefiting Both Chelsea and City"

CHELSEA are ready and willing to sell Enzo Fernandez.

boss would love to be reunited with the midfielder he brought the best out of when he was in charge of the Blues.

And himself has made no secret of his desire to leave Stamford Bridge.

But just because a deal would appear to suit all parties, does not mean it will happen.

And if Fernandez does move to the Etihad in this transfer window, negotiations are likely to go down to the wire.

Why? Because and City have both made their stances crystal clear and are now in a Mexican stand-off. Or an Argentinian stand-off, if you prefer.

Neither will want to blink first. Especially because the relationship between the two clubs is already strained by the way Maresca left Stamford Bridge and then pitched up in Manchester as Pep Guardiola’s replacement.

It is not just players and agents and managers who have egos.

Club owners and executives do, too. Chelsea and City do not want to lose face and let the other side “win” in the battle over Fernandez’s future.

Neither club is willing to go on the record in the same way as, say, chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin.

He pinned his colours firmly to the mast way back in June when he said star forward Julian Alvarez would be going nowhere and criticised Barcelona’s pursuit of Fernandez’s Argentina team-mate.

It is a stance Gil Marin and Atletico head coach maintain.

Barca president Joan Laporta has also been vocal about his determination to sign Alvarez.

Chelsea and City are for now not speaking publicly about the Fernandez situation.

But their positions are clear.

The London club insist they have played fair by Fernandez and City.

Informed by the player’s entourage of his desire to leave, in late May the Blues set out the terms under which they would be prepared for it to happen.

Namely: a formal written offer of a guaranteed fee of £120m payable, it is understood, in three chunky instalments, rather than slightly smaller sums spread over a longer period. With those terms available only until 5pm last Friday.

Very few clubs in the world are capable of spending so much on one player. are one, but their interest faded and – for now at least – has not reawakened.

City are another. But they are adamant they will not splash £120m for Fernandez.

The imminent sale of makes no difference. City will have known before the weekend they were on course to agree a deal with Barcelona for the Spain midfielder.

Yet they still let the Friday deadline pass without making a formal bid for Fernandez.

Money is not the issue, although City are set to spend all of the £65.4m Rodri fee and more on Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi.

Etihad bosses have made it known they will not pay £120m.

Chelsea chiefs say they will not accept anything less and, in any case, that exit package for Fernandez is no longer available.

Which is why the Blues say they now expect the 25 year old to stay at the club this season.

But with the transfer window still open, the story has a fortnight, at least, still to run.

It is worth stepping back and asking why City and Maresca want Fernandez.

As Chelsea themselves noted in May ahead of the last game of the season, only five Premier League players have registered more than the Argentinian’s 48 goal contributions – 24 goals and 24 assists – since the start of the 2024/5 campaign.

Fernandez was playing under Maresca for about three quarters of that period and is understood to credit the Italian with helping him to be more decisive in the opposition half.

City are in a process of transition, with the departure of Guardiola and a number of players.

Rodri has now followed to Barcelona, leaving huge midfield holes for the club to fill.

and Bouaddi, either together or one at a time, will perform some of Rodri and Silva’s jobs.

But City also need a midfielder who can make runs from deep to create and score goals, after was allowed to leave following just one season at the club.

If you look in detail at the data, it becomes clear Fernandez is one of the best at doing it in the world.

Add into the equation the Argentinian’s all-round attributes and competitive edge, and the question becomes: why would Chelsea even consider letting him go?

It is interesting to note that one of the players ahead of Fernandez in the PL chart of goal contributions was , whom the Blues signed in a £117m deal which is a record for a British player.

Rogers made a promising debut in the 3-1 friendly win over Real Sociedad at the weekend. You would expect any decent player to put away the rebound from which he scored the opener.

But the England star’s movement and understanding with two-goal Joao Pedro were impressive.

Although Fernandez has played in an advanced and/or more free role for Chelsea and Argentina, Rogers is more suited to playing as one of the No 10s that new Blues manager uses in his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.

In short: Chelsea aim to be less reliant on the kind of attacking attributes which are Fernandez’s speciality.

Then there is the issue of the Blues fans booing the guy who is still nominally their vice captain.

You could expect the ill feeling which comes from his behaviour in Argentina’s World Cup semi-final win over England to die down as the season goes on. Among Chelsea supporters in any case, and many of them did sing Fernandez’s name.

But Alonso will want to avoid anything poisoning the feelgood factor he has been building.

The word is the Chelsea camp has been a happy place to be over the summer. Alonso’s achievements at Bayer Leverkusen and, more significantly, his stellar career as a player, ensured he received immediate respect.

Unlike poor predecessor , who was fighting fires from the moment he arrived.

Rosenior was further undermined by Fernandez and talking out of turn.

Cucurella was sold to Atletico Madrid before the World Cup. Alejandro Garnacho, another player with the potential to cause unrest, has left on loan.

But Fernandez is back after his extended break following the tournament and the danger is his presence will sour the atmosphere.

Finally, there is the issue of money.

Chelsea have plenty of other players they need to find new homes for in the next couple of weeks. They were very successful sellers last summer and will be confident of repeating the trick.

But a big fee for Fernandez, a player they rate highly but could survive without, would be a welcome boost to their coffers.

The Blues still have to meet the strict terms on losses laid down in their settlement with Uefa for breaking financial rules, despite not playing in European competition this season.

Although Fernandez was signed for £106m rising to £110m in January 2023, his value on the Chelsea books is now somewhere between £65m and £70m.

That is because of the accounting process of amortisation, which reduces the value of a player as an intangible asset over the course of their contract. So a £100m fee would represent a good profit.

Yet the Blues can legitimately argue Fernandez is a better player than the one they signed three and a half years ago. And therefore worth every penny of £120m or more, especially in a market inflated by deals like the £116m City have paid for Anderson.

Chelsea know all the reasons why City want to sign Fernandez as well.

But City also know all the reasons why Chelsea would be prepared to sell him.

Football, and the transfer market in particular, teaches you to be cynical.

Clubs can swear blind they will not be buying or selling a particular player, only for a deal to be done in the end.

Whatever anyone says, whether in public or through briefings, is really just a position from which to negotiate. Nothing is set in stone.

But when a player is of the quality and status of Fernandez, the stakes are higher.

Chelsea will look silly if they sell him for less than £120m. And Blues bosses have turned down numerous offers to sponsor their shirts under the current regime, refusing to budge in their valuation. Even if it looks self-defeating from the outside.

They could keep a world-class footballer at the club, hope the hostility dies down, and wait to cash in on him later. Any sale before June 30 next year would still count for this season’s financial results.

City will appear desperate if they agree to pay £120m for Fernandez after saying there was no chance they would. They could look at other targets or go with what they have.

Although that will be harder if they do not improve on their Community Shield performance in the early games of the new season.

Finding a deal this summer which everyone can present as a success will be hard.

Which is why the Fernandez saga may well run until close to 11pm on September 1, when the window closes.

And not be resolved even then.