CHELSEA ISSUE EMPHATIC ANSWER TO REAL MADRID OVER ENZO FERNáNDEZ
Chelsea deny rumours of selling Enzo Fernández to Real Madrid, insisting the midfielder is a crucial part of their long-term plans. The club views him as a future leader.
Midfielder Enzo Fernandez is crucial to Chelsea's long-term plan, and the club has emphatically denied rumours that he could be sold to Real Madrid.
Sources close to the Blues stress that Fernandez is still a key component of Chelsea's strategy under their present administration, despite ongoing connections to Los Blancos. The Blues are happy to keep him at Stamford Bridge.
Fernandez has been a reliable midfield player for Chelsea since joining from Benfica in January 2023 for a then-British record of £106.8 million. He has demonstrated his remarkable passing range, hard work ethic, and tactical awareness.
Club officials have refuted allegations that Chelsea would consider bids for the World Cup winner, highlighting his significance to the team's goals.
According to a source inside the club, "Enzo is essential to what we are creating here." "The club views him as a leader for years to come and is happy with his services."
Fernandez has long been a target for Real Madrid, and the player is amenable to the prospect of playing for the Spanish powerhouse someday.
Any prospective future relocation to the Bernabeu would, however, be quite expensive. According to sources, Real Madrid is not willing to pay Chelsea's asking price of at least £120 million for Fernandez.
The cost of Real Madrid's Chelsea raid
Given their present midfield depth with players like Jude Bellingham and Federico Valverde, the La Liga powerhouses are reluctant to spend that much money on any player and are not willing to explore a deal for Fernández at that price.
Fernandez is still committed to Chelsea, where he is a key player in their pursuit of both domestic and European glory.
The Blues need to retain players like Fernandez if they want to regain their place among Europe's best.
Whether Chelsea's determination to repel attention from Madrid or other suitors will be made clear in the upcoming months.
According to insiders, however, Fernandez is and will continue to be a vital member of Chelsea as they aim to contend for titles on several fronts under Enzo Maresca.
Maresca could be a target for Madrid in the future, but the London team would have to make a huge offer before they would even entertain selling the midfield player.
The 24-year-old Fernandez has started all ten of Chelsea's games this season (in all competitions), scoring three goals and dishing out one assist.
In a recent interview, Maresca stated, "We are really satisfied with Enzo [Fernandez]." He has played as an offensive midfielder in 90% of our games, and I believe he excels in this role.
DID LIAM ROSENIOR’S PAST AS A PUNDIT INFLUENCE HIS DEFENSIVE STRATEGY AT ARSENAL?
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior hits back at critics after a defensive approach saw the Blues exit the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Liam Rosenior stood by his cautious approach after Chelsea couldn’t overturn their first-leg deficit against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Down 3-2 from the first match, Chelsea never really put Arsenal under pressure at the Emirates. In the end, Kai Havertz—of all people—put the game to bed in stoppage time, scoring against his old club.
Rosenior switched things up, going with a back three and playing it safe. He wanted to keep the game close and try to push hard late on. He brought on Cole Palmer and Estevao around the 60th minute, hoping for a spark, but Chelsea still couldn’t carve out real chances. Arsenal just wouldn’t budge.
Pundits didn’t love Rosenior’s tactics and let him know it. He brushed it off. “I’ve been a pundit. It’s easy. It’s easy in hindsight,” he said. “If I go all-out and press high, we could give away two early goals, and then everyone asks what I’m thinking. That’s just how it is. Lose, and you’re hammered. Win, and you’re a genius. Usually, it’s somewhere in the middle.”
Chelsea were up against the league leaders, and with both Reece James and Pedro Neto missing due to minor injuries, Rosenior planned to hang in there and try to frustrate Arsenal—and maybe turn the mood in the stadium.
“That was the idea. You saw it,” he said. “I thought the psychological side of the tie mattered, and you could feel it in the stadium too. At 60 minutes, I brought on Cole and Estevao, and suddenly we had some moments around the box. I think people sensed this game could flip.”
It didn’t happen, though. Rosenior said he couldn’t fault his players for their effort, and in the end, Arsenal’s clinching goal came while Chelsea were throwing everything forward, desperate to turn things around.
IS JOãO PEDRO ACTUALLY BETTER THAN LIVERPOOL’S £79M HUGO EKITIKé? THE STATS REVEAL ALL
Liam Rosenior makes history as Chelsea win three in a row! Discover why João Pedro is the Premier League's best summer signing.
Since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over Chelsea in 2022, they've been anything but quiet in the transfer market. In just three and a half years, they've signed 54 new senior players and spent well over £1 billion.
Some of these signings haven’t even made it onto the pitch for the first team—guys like Gaga Słonina, Ângelo Gabriel, Omari Kellyman, and Caleb Wiley, just to name a few. But others have really made their mark. Think Marc Cucurella, Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernández and, of course, Cole Palmer. Now, the question is, has one of Chelsea’s latest summer signings done enough to join that group? Is he about to become one of the Premier League’s signings of the season?
Let’s talk about Chelsea’s summer addition and what he’s bringing to the table. It’s been a great week for Liam Rosenior’s squad. On Saturday night, they were 2-0 down at halftime to West Ham at Stamford Bridge. Somehow, they turned it around and won 3-2, with Enzo Fernández scoring in stoppage time to seal it.
That win made it three league victories in a row for Rosenior. He’s now only the fourth English manager to start his Premier League career with three straight wins—joining Bobby Gould, Sam Allardyce, and Craig Shakespeare. Not bad company at all.
Just three days earlier, Chelsea booked their spot in the Champions League round of 16 after a wild 3-2 win away at Napoli. Down 2-1, João Pedro scored twice in the second half to turn the game around. The Brazilian’s goal at the weekend kicked off Chelsea’s comeback, bringing his total to 15 goals for the club—including three at the Club World Cup. So, how does he stack up against other strikers who switched clubs last summer?
Looking at the numbers, here’s how the new strikers have done since moving in the summer of 2025:
Hugo Ekitiké (Liverpool, £79m): 15 goals (10 PL, 2 UCL)
João Pedro (Chelsea, £60m): 12 goals (9 PL, 3 UCL)
Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal, £54.8m): 11 goals (6 PL, 4 UCL)
Nick Woltemade (Man United, £69m): 9 goals (7 PL, 1 UCL)
Benjamin Šeško (Man City, £66.3m): 6 goals (5 PL)
Alexander Isak (Newcastle, £125m): 3 goals (2 PL)
Liam Delap (Spurs, £30m): 2 goals (1 PL, 1 UCL)
Only Ekitiké has scored more than João Pedro across all competitions, but Liverpool paid about £20m more for him than Chelsea paid for Pedro. In the whole Premier League, only Erling Haaland, Igor Thiago, Antoine Semenyo, and Ekitiké have more league goals than Pedro’s nine.
But stats aside, Chelsea just look more dangerous with Pedro leading the attack. Their last league defeat? He started that one on the bench at Craven Cottage. Since Rosenior took over, Pedro has started and scored in every match.
Chelsea have brought in plenty of players from Brighton during the BlueCo era, but with the way things are going, João Pedro might end up being the best of the bunch.