Manchester City Makes Move for Enzo Fernandez as Midfield Rebuild Accelerates
Manchester City are preparing an opening offer for Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez, with Enzo Maresca pushing hard to make the Argentina international the centrepiece of his new-look midfield.
Maresca has marked Fernandez down as a priority signing after a string of high-profile exits ripped out the core of City's engine room. The champions have already spent big this summer, but the scale of their midfield overhaul means the chequebook is coming back out.
Chelsea know exactly how valuable Fernandez is. Earlier in the summer, they set an informal deadline for any deal to be wrapped up, insisting on a minimum £120m fee. That date came and went without agreement, yet City have not walked away. With the transfer window closing next week, they are expected to test Chelsea’s resolve again.
If a deal is struck, Fernandez would become one of the costliest players in Premier League history, behind only Liverpool’s £125m move for Alexander Isak last summer.
City themselves are not far off that bracket already: they have just paid £116m to bring Elliot Anderson in from Nottingham Forest, and could end up breaking their transfer record twice in the same window.
This is not a cold, opportunistic move. Fernandez and Maresca retain a positive relationship from their time together at Chelsea, before Maresca’s controversial New Year’s Day exit and subsequent switch to Etihad Stadium in June. The Italian now wants the 25-year-old to anchor his midfield as he reshapes the side in his image.
He needs reinforcements. City have seen four major midfielders depart in quick succession. Tijjani Reijnders has gone to Al-Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia for £52m. Barcelona have taken Rodri for £65m. Newcastle have agreed a £52m deal for Nico Gonzalez. Bernardo Silva left earlier in the summer and has since joined Real Madrid. That level of churn demands a statement signing, and all roads point back to Fernandez.
Over at Stamford Bridge, the situation has been simmering for months. It has been a turbulent spell for Fernandez, who joined Chelsea from Benfica in 2023 for £107m. Alongside his agent, former Paris St-Germain midfielder Javier Pastore, he explored interest from Real Madrid, only for the Spanish giants to release a statement denying any move for him.
The tension grew after Chelsea’s Champions League exit to PSG in March. From that point, Fernandez became increasingly critical of the club, and his future has hung in the balance. New Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso revealed in July that he held a private conversation with the midfielder about his situation, but refused to share what was said.
On the pitch, the atmosphere around him has turned sour. Fernandez came off the bench in Monday’s 3-2 win over Fulham, only to be booed by sections of the home support, angered by his perceived role in England’s World Cup exit. At full-time he briefly celebrated with the away end and his team-mates, then headed straight down the tunnel, the first Chelsea player to disappear from view.
Now, with days left in the window, City are moving. Chelsea have their price. Maresca has his target. The question is whether one of the most expensive midfielders in Premier League history will be wearing blue in west London or sky blue in Manchester when the dust settles.
