Following on from the revelation last night of the apparent collapse of Enzo Fernandez’s proposed move to Chelsea, Portuguese sports papers O Jogo and Record have this morning released some more details on the players situation.
O Jogo’s report mentions that Fernandez has told the Benfica coach that he wishes to leave the club and has even missed training in order to force through a move; with further reports in the Portuguese media suggesting that he’s been suspended by the club for their next game against Postimonense.
According to O Jogo, despite reports to the contrary, the move is still alive; thanks in large part to the intervention of agent Jorge Mendes who is in London to try to bring all parties together in order to “save” the transaction for the Argentine midfielder.
It’s reported that Mendes had already been in a meeting during the early hours of yesterday with Chelsea officials to discuss the values to be presented in the official and written proposal to Benfica, but during the day everything changed.
The proposal that had been verbalised by The Blues before Christmas had promised to cover the €120 million release clause written into the world champion’s contract, however the actual bid submitted arrived many millions short.
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has reported that the English club offered only offered €85 million euros, after having initially shown willingness to pay €127 million.
This reversal left Benfica president Rui Costa fuming but it did not affect his position, which remains cemented, that Benfica will not accept anything less than the €120 million release clause for Enzo Fernandez.
And there are more details emerging from Record. According to their sources, Chelsea refused to pay €127m and instead submitted three alternative offers for Fernandez.
The first was for €80m, the second was €85m and the final bid was €90m plus Hakim Ziyech for Enzo Fernandez, and also included Datro Fofana and Andrey Santos on loan. However, Benfica insisted on the full €120m release clause.
According to Record, Chelsea are still working to come to an agreement with Benfica on Fernandez’s transfer.
So it seems that the on/off transfer saga of Fernandez to Chelsea continues. Liverpool fans and the higher ups will be monitoring the situation closely with reports that Liverpool may look to sign Fernandez in the summer if he doesn’t make the move to Chelsea Football Club.
