On the day the January transfer window officially opened, Chelsea put in another disappointing performance away from home. The timing seemed significant.
As soon as the final whistle blew on Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest, the demand from Chelsea fans was pretty clear. Apart from some wanting the removal of head coach Graham Potter after less than four months and only 16 matches (which isn’t going to happen), the desire is for new players to be added to the squad.
Chelsea haven’t exactly been slow to act in the latter regard.
Striker David Datro Fofana, 20, has already completed a move from Molde of Norway, 18-year-old midfielder Andrey Santos has arrived in England to complete his switch from Brazil’s Vasco da Gama and a price has been agreed with Monaco of France’s Ligue 1 for defender Benoit Badiashile, 21.
But Chelsea supporters want more high-profile names than those youngsters and they have been excited by all the reports linking Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez, fresh from helping Argentina win the World Cup, to their club in recent days.
Midfield is an area of concern that the club’s top brass want to address and the aim is for at least one player to be added to this department either this month or/and in the summer.
Fernandez’s name is not the only one on the shopping list but it is the one that has got a lot of people’s attention.
So how likely is it that Fernandez, who turns 22 in a couple of weeks and was voted the Best Young Player at the World Cup, will move to Stamford Bridge before the winter window shuts on the evening of January 31?
There have been a lot of suggestions lately about a deal being agreed with Benfica, or Chelsea’s willingness to pay the full release clause of £106million ($128m), yet this is all premature.
Talks are ongoing but Chelsea have a price in mind for Fernandez and it isn’t that high. They are not planning on paying such a large sum and will not be pressured into doing so. There is also a belief no club will pay that release clause, hence their determination to negotiate a lower fee.
For their part, Benfica are in no rush to sell a player who has only made 25 appearances for them having signed from Buenos Aires side River Plate in July.
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The Lisbon side don’t need the money, having sold striker Darwin Nunez to Liverpool for up to €100million last summer.
Benfica also want to keep Fernandez to help them make a success of this season. They lead Portugal’s Primeira Liga by five points, despite losing 3-0 to third-placed Braga on Friday in their first game since its own month-plus World Cup hiatus ended, and have high hopes in the Champions League, where they face Club Bruges of Belgium next month in the last 16.
What isn’t in dispute is how highly Chelsea rate Fernandez.
He was installed as their No 1 midfield target, along with Borussia Dortmund’s England international Jude Bellingham, after watching his impressive performances for Argentina in Qatar.
As far as all the hype over a possible Fernandez transfer in recent days though, it’s obviously in some people’s interests to push the price as high as possible and it is likely to be among the reasons this is being played out so publicly.
So, what are the chances of Chelsea bidding for someone else instead?
Bellingham’s future won’t be resolved until the summer and Chelsea are fully aware they face an uphill battle to sign him. While they haven’t given up, there is a feeling within the club that Liverpool would be in pole position should the 19-year-old join a Premier League club at the end of this campaign.
There is competition for Fernandez, too, but by starting negotiations now, Chelsea’s new owners aren’t playing catch-up the way they are with Bellingham, who has been targeted by Liverpool for some time.
One of the possible options under consideration is for a deal to be agreed with Benfica for Fernandez this month that will see him joining Chelsea in the summer.