January 04, Portuguese Record reporter Nuno Miguel Ferreira and Valter Marques update
The inside story of Enzo Fernandez’s transfer.
Enzo’s move to Chelsea was negotiated late into the night in London between Jorge Mendes and England executives.
By the end of this meeting, the final flag still hadn’t been hoisted, but an agreement was expected at dawn.
The 21-year-old wrapped up a meeting with Roger Schmidt yesterday, where he told the German coach his priority was an immediate move to Chelsea – a club which had been in talks with the player since last week
Everything was agreed – which saw Benfica’s holding company agree to return to talks with the English side.
Rui Costa had shown resistance to the sale, rejecting the possibility of the Blues paying the player’s transfer fee in installments and immediately demanding the full amount of his release clause – leading Chelsea to hesitate to sign the player
midfielder.
But in fact, he understands that selling the Argentina international is the only possible outcome at present, which is why he authorized Jorge Mendes to negotiate with Chelsea management.
Even though Rui Costa admits that Enzo has been instrumental in his stellar start to the league, he wants to keep the midfielder until the end of the season, but has weighed the risks of keeping a reluctant player
Pros and cons, I think the best solution is to let people transfer.
Yesterday, in fact, Enzo returned to the Benfica base and did not train with the team.
He was in the locker room with the rest of the team, but was limited to physical work, while the rest of the team worked out on the court under Roger Schmidt’s tutelage.
Even so, the player’s possible departure was a taboo topic in the locker room, with teammates looking forward to the soap opera’s finale.
It is now increasingly clear that Benfica’s future will be without Enzo.