Chelsea set Friday deadline for Enzo Fernandez offers as £120m asking price holds firm

Chelsea have told any club wanting to sign Enzo Fernandez to table £120 million — and to do it by 17:00 BST on Friday.

The deadline is designed to kill off the uncertainty before the new season begins, with Chelsea's new manager Xabi Alonso preparing for his first campaign in charge. Fernandez returned to training this week, his first session under Alonso, who has spoken to the Argentine about his future but declined to share details of what was said (BBC Sport).

Chelsea gave Fernandez and his suitors roughly 60 days to strike a deal at what the club consider a fair price. Now the clock is nearly up. The stance is firm: pay the money, or he stays.

And staying is a genuine option. Chelsea have made clear they are willing to fully reintegrate Fernandez into the squad and let him continue as a key player. Last season he scored 15 goals and provided seven assists in 54 appearances — numbers that most midfielders in the Premier League would happily take.

The price tag is striking in itself. Chelsea signed Fernandez from Benfica for £106.8 million on deadline day in February 2023, just weeks after he helped Argentina win the World Cup in Qatar. Benfica had refused to negotiate, insisting Chelsea trigger the player's full €120 million release clause — a fixed fee in a contract that lets a player leave without the club's agreement. Twelve hours of talks, led from London by co-owner Behdad Eghbali, got it done (Sky Sports).

Now Chelsea are asking for slightly more than they paid. It is a statement of intent: they are not desperate sellers, and they will not entertain a cut-price exit.

One suitor has already stepped away. Real Madrid have said they have no intention of signing Fernandez, removing the most glamorous name from the list of possible destinations (BBC Sport).

For fans, the upshot is simple. If nobody meets the £120 million figure by Friday evening, Fernandez trains on under Alonso and starts the season as a Chelsea player. If somebody does, Chelsea recoup their outlay — plus a little extra — and a three-and-a-half-year chapter at Stamford Bridge closes.

Alonso's silence on the Fernandez conversation leaves room for either outcome. But the deadline does the talking either way: by Friday night, Chelsea want this resolved, and they are not blinking first.