Manchester City keep Enzo Fernandez option alive as Chelsea consider £120m sale

Manchester City are continuing their pursuit of Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez, despite interest in Lille’s Morocco international Ayoub Bouaddi and Chelsea’s valuation of the Argentina player.

The move is being driven by Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca, who sees Fernandez as the ideal replacement for Rodri in his new project. An agreement has been reached for Rodri to leave Manchester City for Barcelona, while Tijjani Reijnders has moved to Saudi Arabia.

According to Spanish newspaper AS, Fernandez remains on Manchester City’s list of transfer targets for the summer at Maresca’s personal request. The club’s interest in Bouaddi has not ended, but talks over a potential deal for Fernandez are expected to resume in the coming days.

Chelsea had set a deadline for negotiations over the sale of the midfielder, but that deadline has now passed. Despite that, discussions have not been abandoned.

Manchester City initially wanted to complete the departures of Rodri and Reijnders before committing fully to major transfer activity. The club did, however, make an initial verbal offer of 120m euros, worth about £115m, during the past week.

That proposal was not formal and was ignored by Chelsea officials. It matched the fee Chelsea paid Benfica for Fernandez almost four seasons ago.

Chelsea’s public position was emphatic: “Enzo is not for sale”.

Privately, though, the possibility of selling the player has already been examined. The club’s board had considered whether Fernandez could leave since the end of last season, even though the official stance remained that he would not be transferred.

Chelsea now want to secure the maximum possible financial return from the Argentina international, whose value has increased following his impressive performances at the World Cup.

The London club are understood to have placed a price of about 140m euros on Fernandez, equivalent to £120m. That is a figure Manchester City do not want to pay unless they have no alternative.

Manchester City have sufficient financial resources to make a strong offer, particularly if they complete the sale of Savinho. Further developments in that deal are expected this week. Chelsea, meanwhile, do not want to lose money on the Fernandez transfer.

Maresca knows Fernandez well from their time working together at Stamford Bridge over several seasons. He was the coach who helped develop the midfielder, with the player’s significant goalscoring ability now emerging as one of his most important strengths.

Contact between Maresca and Fernandez has remained regular since the end of last season. Once the Argentina midfielder was placed on the market, Maresca made it clear that the doors of the Etihad Stadium were open to him.

Speaking after the Community Shield defeat, Maresca said: “We knew before the game the things we had to do. We know what we have to do. We will be busy during these days”.

For Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso, Fernandez is also regarded as one of the key players around whom he wants to build his project. However, Alonso would not rule out a sale if the club were able to bring in other reinforcements.