Manchester City Target Enzo Fernandez as Transfer Deadline Approaches
Manchester City are weighing up a late move for Enzo Fernandez as the transfer window ticks towards its deadline, with the Chelsea midfielder firmly at the top of Enzo Maresca’s wish list after the departure of Rodri.
City have already moved once in midfield, bringing in Ayyoub Bouaddi, the highly rated 18-year-old Morocco international who caught the eye at the World Cup. That signing has not cooled their appetite. Maresca wants more control, more craft, more depth. He wants Fernandez.
City’s recruitment team are exploring several options. Bournemouth’s Alex Scott is on the list. So is Roma’s Manu Kone. But inside the club, Fernandez is viewed as the statement piece – the player Maresca believes can anchor his new era at the Etihad.
The complication sits in west London.
Earlier this month, Chelsea set a hard line. Clubs were told to submit a deal worth up to £120m for Fernandez by a Friday 5pm deadline. Manchester City simply let that time pass. No bid. No formal move. Just a continued, quiet interest.
That deadline now looks far less rigid than it sounded.
When Sky Sports News spoke to Xabi Alonso last week, the Chelsea head coach refused to offer any guarantees over Fernandez’s future. No grand declarations, no “not for sale” stance. Just a short assessment: the midfielder was working hard ahead of Chelsea’s Monday Night Football clash with Fulham.
Then came the team sheet.
With Alonso juggling injuries, including the absence of Moises Caicedo before his first Premier League game in charge, it seemed an obvious moment to lean on Fernandez. Instead, Reece James lined up in central midfield alongside Romeo Lavia. Fernandez started on the bench.
When he did enter the pitch, the atmosphere told its own story. Fulham supporters booed him. Chelsea fans answered with loud backing, a more positive response than the mixed reception he received when he came off the bench against Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge in their final pre-season friendly around 10 days earlier.
His situation feels delicate. The talent is not in doubt. The fit, the future, the price – all of that is up for debate.
Hovering over any negotiation is the fractured relationship between Chelsea and Manchester City. The two clubs are still carrying the fallout from Maresca’s move. Chelsea’s season was badly disrupted around Christmas when Maresca left, and City had to pay £17m in compensation to prise him away. That episode has left tension, and it will colour every conversation over Fernandez.
Chelsea had previously made their stance clear with that £120m figure. What they would actually demand from City now is less certain. The London club know City are not short of funds. The Premier League champions have sold a record number of players this window and created significant room to spend.
The question is no longer whether Maresca wants Enzo Fernandez. Everyone inside the game knows he does.
The real question is this: how far are Manchester City prepared to go, in fee and in diplomacy, to give their new manager the midfielder he loves?
