Blow for Chelsea star as Real Madrid plan to sign £87m Manchester City midfielder

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

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

Asked whether he would 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 and then we’ll see.’

Fernandez has been 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 everything 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 are no talks,’ he told ESPN Argentina. ‘Right now 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 in the Spanish capital.

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

Fernandez slammed that managerial decision earlier this month, with Chelsea beginning to go through a tricky period under Maresca’s replacement Liam Rosenior.

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

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

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

As a result Real Madrid are looking 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 would be relocating in the summer.

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

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

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

‘He is one of the captains at the club and what I will say is that he made it really clear how happy he is here at this club, how much he wants to win and how passionate he is for us to be successful.

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

The Everton defeat left Chelsea just sixth in 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 action against Manchester City.

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