Blow for Chelsea star as Real Madrid plan to sign £87m Man City midfielder | Football

Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez’s dream move to Real Madrid is in serious jeopardy because the La Liga giants would ‘prefer’ to sign a Manchester City rival.

Fernandez forged doubt over his Chelsea future following the club’s embarrassing Champions League last-16 defeat to PSG earlier within the month.

Asked whether he could be still be at Stamford Bridge next season following the 8-2 aggregate defeat, Fernandez told ESPN: ‘I don’t know. There are eight games left and the FA Cup. There’s the World Cup after which we’ll see.’

Fernandez has been considered one of Chelsea’s most influential players since his eye-watering £107m move from Benfica in 2023, making over 150 appearances for the Blues.

Five years remain on the 25-year-old’s Chelsea contract but all the pieces points to the Argentine pushing for a move well before that date.

Fernandez insisted he was not in talks over a summer move last week but did little to suggest he believes his long-term future is in west London.

‘There aren’t any talks,’ he told ESPN Argentina. ‘At once I’m focused on Chelsea, we’ll see after the World Cup.’

Fernandez fuelled rumours of a move to Real Madrid further over the weekend by admitting he would ‘like’ to live within the Spanish capital.

Much of Fernandez’s frustration at Stamford Bridge appears to be surrounding the choice to let go of former manager Enzo Maresca.

Fernandez slammed that managerial decision earlier this month, with Chelsea starting to undergo a difficult period under Maresca’s substitute Liam Rosenior.

Real Madrid are believed to be all for Fernandez but view Manchester City’s Rodri as their ‘preferred option’ for the midfield position, based on Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo.

Rodri has won 4 Premier League titles since joining Man City in 2019 and took home the Ballon d’Or award before his recent injury lay-off.

The 2 obstacles to a move for Rodri are his age – he turns 30 this summer – and the actual fact Man City still value him at around 100m euros.

Consequently Real Madrid are taking a look at different options and have placed Fernandez on their list of possible targets.

Fernandez’s partner, Valentina Cervante, was recently asked about rumours the family could be relocating in the summertime.

‘Are we staying at Chelsea? I don’t know, hopefully yes, I like it,’ she told Azzenstream. ‘Madrid? I don’t know, I don’t know, wherever they tell me to go, I’ll go along with the boys.’

Chelsea boss Rosenior, meanwhile, believes Fernandez is ‘fully committed’ to the Premier League club despite his recent comments.

‘I had an important conversation with Enzo at length this morning before training, not nearly his comments but how he’s feeling, how as a team we are able to improve,’ Rosenior said before Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to Everton prior to the international break.

‘He’s considered one of the captains on the club and what I’ll say is that he made it really clear how completely happy he’s here at this club, how much he desires to win and the way passionate he’s for us to achieve success.

‘He also said that in translation and in emotion, things get misconstrued. For me, he’s fully committed to this group and to winning here at this football club.’

The Everton defeat left Chelsea just sixth within the Premier League, six points outside the top-four places.

Rosenior’s side are back out on Saturday with a FA Cup quarter-final against League One side Port Vale, before returning to Premier League motion against Manchester City.

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