Chelsea have set a 17:00 BST deadline on Friday for Manchester City to submit an offer for Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez, valued at £120m.
The potential transfer would see Fernandez reunite with City boss Enzo Maresca, who previously managed him at Chelsea and made him club captain.
Maresca appeared to downplay the chances of imminent business, saying “I don’t think we’re going to do something today” when asked at a Friday press conference.
However, behind the scenes, City’s interest in Fernandez is understood to be genuine and directly linked to the future of Spanish midfielder Rodri.
City are not planning to sign Fernandez if Rodri remains at the club, with the World Cup winner wanted by Barcelona for a fee City have set at 80m euros, equivalent to £68.4m.
Barcelona’s opening bid for Rodri, who is out of contract next summer, was just £38.5m, leaving a significant gap in negotiations between the two clubs.
BBC Sport’s Simon Stone says the Rodri and Fernandez deals are dependent on each other but do not need to be completed at the same time.
Rodri is regarded as one of the finest midfielders of his generation, officially named the best player at the 2026 World Cup and a former Ballon d’Or winner, having played 298 times for City and lifting four league titles.
City have already committed significant funds in this transfer window, signing Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson for £116m, a deal that currently ranks fifth in football’s all-time transfer list.
Should a £120m agreement for Fernandez be reached, it would become the fourth most expensive transfer in football history, and City would account for two of the six biggest signings ever made in a single summer.
Only Alexander Isak’s £125m move from Newcastle to Liverpool last summer, along with Paris St-Germain’s deals for Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in 2017, would rank above the potential Fernandez fee.
A completed deal would push City’s summer spending beyond £250m, with the club also recruiting Pierce Charles, Jeremy Monga, Mathys Detourbet and Geronimo Rulli earlier in the window.
Maresca is clearly a huge admirer of Fernandez, selecting the Argentine in 79 of his 92 games in charge at Chelsea, including playing him further forward during Cole Palmer’s injury absence last season.
That advanced role yielded a career-best 15 goals for Fernandez, demonstrating his versatility and increasing his value to any system Maresca might deploy at City.
Chelsea reporter Nizaar Kinsella has reported that insiders insist the opportunity will be gone and Fernandez will remain until next summer if City fail to act by the Friday deadline.
Kinsella described the situation as a win-win for Chelsea, who either retain a world-class midfielder or receive one of the largest transfer fees in the sport’s history.
Chelsea have already been heavily active this summer, breaking their club record to sign Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa for £117m, while also spending £52m on Maxence Lacroix and £47m on Marco Palestra.
Relations between City and Chelsea remain strained following Maresca’s departure from Stamford Bridge, a situation that led to a lengthy legal dispute and Chelsea receiving £17.2m in compensation.
Kinsella explained the tension between the clubs in detail: “There is no doubt that, because of Maresca, there is bad blood between Chelsea and Manchester City and losing Fernandez to the Sky Blues would add another chapter to the story.”
He added: “Maresca’s mid-season exit was disruptive and unsettled players in the squad, including Fernandez himself, and led to a lengthy legal dispute that ultimately saw Chelsea receive £17.2m in compensation.”
Kinsella concluded: “The Italian had twice attracted interest from City before walking out on Chelsea. Ultimately, Maresca got his move but was also forced to apologise on Instagram and pay an undisclosed sum to Chelsea.”
The actual Premier League transfer deadline falls on Tuesday, 1 September at 23:00 BST, meaning Chelsea’s Friday cut-off is self-imposed rather than official.
Whether Chelsea would genuinely reject a £120m offer submitted after their internal deadline is open to question, though history suggests clubs can and do hold firm on such positions.
Manchester United discovered this in 2020 when Borussia Dortmund stood by their August 10 deadline for Jadon Sancho, rejecting an increased Red Devils bid and forcing them to wait an entire year before completing the deal.
