Manchester City Reach Agreement with Chelsea for Enzo Fernandez
Manchester City have reached an initial agreement with Chelsea to sign Enzo Fernandez, with the World Cup-winning midfielder now racing the clock to seal a move before the transfer window shuts at 11pm local time.
City, who only opened direct talks with their Premier League rivals on Monday, have moved late but decisively for the 25-year-old. Britain’s “The Sun” reports that club officials finally sat down with Chelsea to thrash out the framework of a deal in the final hours of the window.
The transfer would reunite Fernandez with Enzo Maresca, the former Chelsea boss who stepped into the Etihad dugout in the summer to succeed Pep Guardiola. For the Argentine, it is a chance to link up again with a coach he publicly backed – and whose Chelsea exit he openly criticised.
The pressure now is time. With an initial agreement in place, Fernandez is waiting for the final green light to undergo a medical and complete the switch. Any delay risks pushing the deal beyond the deadline and leaving all parties in limbo.
Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio has confirmed that City and Chelsea have reached an initial understanding over the transfer, underlining how advanced the talks have become despite their late start.
Chelsea’s stance has been notably restrained. Manager Xabi Alonso and the club hierarchy have kept their counsel on Fernandez’s future, especially after leaving him out of the squad for Sunday’s Premier League match against Brighton.
Asked after that game whether Fernandez had already played his last minutes for Chelsea, Alonso would not be drawn. “We'll see. We want what's best for the team, which is why we made the decision against Luton and today, and anything that happens before Tuesday evening, we need to be aware of how things will develop,” the Spaniard said.
He pushed the focus back onto the wider squad. “We're not sure, we're preparing for all scenarios, but I'm certain that whatever happens from Wednesday, we'll have a good enough squad to compete in all the Premier League matches,” he added.
For Fernandez, the potential move to Manchester carries a clear emotional thread. Back in January, he publicly questioned Chelsea’s decision to sack Maresca, speaking with rare bluntness about the impact inside the dressing room.
“I don't understand it,” he told Mexican network “TUDN”. “Sometimes there are things we don't understand as players, and how and in what way they try to manage matters.”
The midfielder did not hide how deeply the change had cut. “Clearly it was a departure that hurt us a lot, especially in the middle of the season, as it cuts everything off suddenly,” he said.
“We had an identity. He gave us a system, although according to the nature of football, things are sometimes good and sometimes bad. But he always had a very clear identity when it came to training and playing,” Fernandez continued.
Now, with the window minutes from slamming shut, that same coach is waiting for him in Manchester. If the paperwork lands in time, Maresca will not just regain a player who believed in his methods – he will add a World Cup winner to City’s midfield for the battles to come.
