Benfica manager Roger Schmidt slammed Chelsea this week for a ‘disrespectful’ pursuit of Enzo Fernández. Liverpool are linked with the player.
It suddenly seems very unlikely that Chelsea will sign Enzo Fernández. Reports linked the Blues with an imminent deal for the Argentine but things appear to have broken down.
Record reported last night that there had been a twist. Benfica expected Chelsea to pay the player’s release clause, only for the potential buyers to turn around and attempt to negotiate.
Well, that story was spot on. Benfica manager Roger Schmidt laid into Chelsea in a press conference on Thursday, accusing them of a ‘disrespectful’ pursuit.
“There’s a club who want our player,” said Schmidt. “They know we don’t want to sell the player. They try to get the player on their side and they know they can only get this player if they pay the clause.
“So it’s a very clear situation. What the club is doing, who wants to buy Enzo, is disrespectful against all of us, against Benfica. I cannot accept what they are doing. To make the player crazy, to pretend they can pay the clause, and then later they want to negotiate?”
Benfica accuse Chelsea of disrespectful Enzo Fernández pursuit
As we wrote last night, this is only good news for Liverpool. The Reds are also heavily linked with the player, with Marca and O Jogo both naming the Reds as strong contenders to sign him.
We can’t imagine Liverpool will try to sign him this month but the summer? Enzo could be the perfect alternative to Jude Bellingham. If we’re greedy, he might be the perfect complement.
No one is getting him this month without paying his £103m release clause, however. Chelsea were thought to be the only side who would but that looks very unlikely now.
And we can’t imagine that Benfica are eager to negotiate with the Blues come the summer, either. Liverpool, on the other hand, struck a fantastic deal with them last summer for Darwin Nunez.
That positive relationship could make all the difference later this year.
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