Watch: Fabrizio Romano spells out latest twist in Enzo Fernandez saga
Fabrizio Romano has provided the latest update in Chelsea’s pursuit of Enzo Fernandez and he has revealed how the deal has collapsed.
Chelsea have been one of Fernandez’ biggest admirers since his triumph in the World Cup and they have been the club pushing the hardest to secure his signature.
Midfield has been a problem position for Chelsea for quite some time and it is easy to see what a player like Fernandez would bring to Graham Potter’s side.
Romano has provided the latest update on the situation as it now seems as if Chelsea will look elsewhere for a midfielder as their negotiators with Benfica have collapsed.
He explained: “In the last 48 hours Chelsea and Benfica had two meetings, two direct meetings to discuss all the details of the deal, but then the negotiation is off as of now.
“We never know in football, let’s see if Chelsea decide to return to try a different kind of strategy, but as of now Chelsea and Benfica are no longer speaking and there is no new meeting scheduled between the two clubs.
“Last week Chelsea had an agreement with [the] Benfica player Enzo Fernandez, they had an agreement on the contract, a long-term contract for Enzo. Everything [was] in place on the player’s side but not on club side.”
Benfica have been holding out for a club to trigger the player’s pricey release clause, which as of right now Chelsea have not been prepared to offer.
Romano adds: “Rui Costa, Benfica president, always told all the clubs interested in Fernandez the player will only leave in the January transfer window for the value of the release clause – €120million.
“What happened was in the last week Chelsea accepted to negotiate with Benfica around this value. So this is why the two club’s were in direct contact and this was why the deal was verbally advanced between Chelsea and Benfica.
“Chelsea initially accepted to discuss around that money, but they never triggered the clause and they never submitted an official proposal for €120million.
“They always discussed verbally of negotiating around the value of the clause with different payment terms, but they never accepted to trigger the clause.
“The official bid they submitted was €85million, way less than what was discussed verbally, for Benfica [this] was impossible.”
Chelsea currently sit 10th in the Premier League table and are in desperate need of refreshing their midfield. With N’Golo Kante and Jorginho out of contract in the summer, midfield is a priority position for them to improve.
Todd Boehly has certainly not been afraid of splashing the cash since his arrival at Chelsea in the summer, but it seems as if he is not prepared to pay over the odds for a player like Fernandez.
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