Chelsea braced for new Fernandez bid from Man City 11 days after deadline

Chelsea are braced for Manchester City to make a fresh bid for Enzo Fernandez.

Argentina star Fernandez’s future has been uncertain this summer as he became a target for new City boss Enzo Maresca. Chelsea set a strict deadline for clubs to meet their £120million price on August 14 - and that has now long since passed.

It remains to be seen whether City will make a formal bid and if that gets any encouragement, but Chelsea have made their position clear that they did not want to sell. But it is believed there could be one last attempt by City to get Fernandez as the Chelsea midfielder has been unsettled at the club since being axed last season for flirting with Real Madrid.

Fernandez got heavily booed by Fulham fans in his first appearance in the Premier League as a substitute on Monday night. That was a reaction to Fernandez’s part in Argentina’s bad tempered win over England in the World Cup semi-final.

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But, interestingly, Chelsea fans sang his name and Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso also made it clear he wants clarity over Fernandez’s future this week.

Alonso told BBC Radio 5Live: “In football, I am not surprised by anything. We will see. My wish is that we know what will happen for the future but we will see this week.”

The transfer window will shut at 11pm BST on Tuesday, September 1.

Manchester City have already splashed out £116m on Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest but are in need of reinforcements in central midfield. Maresca fielded defender Marc Guehi in midfield in their 2-1 win over Bournemouth, which saw six defenders named in the starting XI.

Anderson, Matteo Kovacic and Mateus Nunes could soon be the only specialist options available, with Nico Gonzalez heading to Newcastle for around £50m. They have just sold Rodri to Barcelona for £65m and Tijjani Reijnders to Al-Qadsiah for £52m, meaning there is plenty of cash available.

Maresca coached Fernandez at Chelsea, but refused to be drawn on the possible deal. He said: "In this moment I have to give you the same answer since day one, which will be always the same. He is a player from another club and I don't think it's correct to talk about other players.

"I'm not going to say anything about players who are not with us. Not today, to be honest. I don't think we're going to do something today."

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