Chelsea has set a deadline for teams wanting to recruit Enzo Fernandez to make an offer worth 120 million pounds, but this time has passed without an official purchase offer. However, Manchester City has not given up on the deal and believes that Chelsea still wants to negotiate.
The Fernandez deal is said to be directly related to Rodri's future. Man City is only willing to recruit the Chelsea midfielder if Rodri leaves Etihad, while Barcelona is pursuing the Spanish international.
The Blues announced that interested teams must make an offer before 5 pm on August 14 (local time), otherwise Fernandez will continue to stay. However, this is only an unofficial deadline, because the official transfer deadline for the Premier League is 11 pm on September 1 (local time).
Man City spent 116 million pounds to buy Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest and Fernandez could become the fourth largest deal in history if the price of 120 million pounds is met.
The Blues can see this deadline as a mutually beneficial option: either keep Fernandez, or collect a huge sum of money. Meanwhile, Man City believes that they are the ones who decide the timing of negotiations and do not necessarily have to follow the deadline set by Chelsea.
This situation once appeared in the Jadon Sancho deal. In 2020, Borussia Dortmund set a deadline of August 10 for Manchester United to complete the recruitment of the English player. When Man United made an offer after that time, Dortmund still refused and it took a year for the deal to be completed.
The Citizens have no intention of recruiting Fernandez if Rodri continues to stay. The 2026 World Cup champion is an important factor in Man City's success in recent years. He contributed to helping the blue half of Manchester win the treble in the 2022-2023 season, including the decisive goal in the Champions League final against Inter Milan.
Barcelona wants to bring Rodri back to Spain, while Real Madrid has withdrawn from the race. Man City values the 30-year-old midfielder at 80 million Euros, equivalent to about 68.4 million pounds, even though Barca has only made an initial offer of 38.5 million pounds.
Man City maintains the view that they will only let Rodri leave if they receive the appropriate fee. This team even accepts the risk of losing him for free in 2027, when his current contract expires.
Therefore, the two deals Rodri and Fernandez are closely related but do not necessarily have to be completed at the same time. If Man City determines Rodri will leave Etihad, they can immediately make an offer to Fernandez. Even Fernandez can complete the move to Man City before Rodri fully recovers after surgery on his back.
