Chelsea set Friday deadline for Manchester City to make £120m Enzo Fernandez offer

Chelsea have set a deadline of 5pm this coming Friday (12pm ET) for Manchester City to make an offer for midfielder Enzo Fernandez.

The Athletic have previously reported that City are interested in signing the 25-year-old midfielder. 

The west London club have said that, if their £120million ($161m) valuation of the player is not met by their deadline later this week, the Argentina international will not be leaving the club. 

Chelsea say that the deadline has been communicated to City and Fernandez’s camp and that their valuation of the player has been confirmed to Fernandez’s agent since May.

As reported in The Athletic’s Transfer DealSheet on August 11, Fernandez enjoyed a strong relationship with Enzo Maresca when the now-City head coach was in charge at Chelsea, and that remains the case.

Fernandez’s future is still uncertain at the club, with Chelsea leaving him off the ‘not for sale’ list this summer. He was suspended by the club for two games in April for comments made while away on international duty, in which he criticised decisions by the hierarchy and appeared to flirt with a move to Real Madrid.

Fernandez’s agent Javier Pastore also spoke about the lack of progress in contract talks earlier in the year and there is no sign of a new agreement, with the Argentine’s existing terms running until 2032.

His midfield partner at Chelsea, Moises Caicedo, urged Fernandez, who had also been linked with a move to Real Madrid, to stay at Chelsea earlier this month.