Will Man City move for Fernandez as Chelsea deadline approaches?

ByEmlyn Begley

BBC Sport journalist

Could today be the day that decides potentially one of the biggest transfers in history?

Chelsea set a deadline of Friday at 17:00 BST for offers for Manchester City target Enzo Fernandez, who they value at £120m.

The potential move would see the Argentina midfielder link up again with new City boss Enzo Maresca, who was formerly his manager at Chelsea.

"I don't think we're going to do something today," said Maresca when asked in a news conference on Friday if they were likely to do imminent transfer business.

But that does not mean they will not start to make their move behind closed doors.

City have already made a big-money midfield signing this summer in Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson for £116m.

A potential deal for Fernandez seems to rely on City selling Spain midfielder Rodri, officially the best player at the 2026 World Cup among numerous other accolades, to Barcelona.

And it could increase the potential beef between City and Chelsea following Maresca's move this summer.

The answer to the question is yes. City are not planning to sign Fernandez if Spanish World Cup-winner Rodri stays.

Defensive midfielder Rodri has been a crucial part of City's success in recent years, helping them win the 2022-23 Treble - including scoring the winner in the Champions League final against Inter Milan.

The 30-year-old has played 298 times, lifting a total of four league titles, plus several cups - and winning the Ballon d'Or.

Rodri wants to return to his native Spain and join Barcelona - with Real Madrid having dropped out of the chase - and City are asking for 80m euros (£68.4m).

But Barca's opening bid for a player out of contract next summer was only £38.5m.

BBC Sport's Simon Stone says the Rodri and Fernandez deals happening are dependent on each other - but do not need to go through at the same time.

If City knew Rodri was going it would enable them to make a bid for Fernandez.

And it is possible he could even sign before Rodri is ready to play again after a minor back procedure.

Maresca is clearly a huge fan of Fernandez, having made him Chelsea captain when Reece James was injured.

And he played the Argentine in 79 of his 92 games in charge.

Fernandez is by nature a defensive midfielder - but Maresca played him further forward many times last season when Cole Palmer was injured - leading to him scoring a career-best 15 goals.

That means there are several places Fernandez could fit into Maresca's City team.

The Abu Dhabi-owned club also signed England midfielder Anderson from Forest this summer.

Anderson, like Fernandez, has played in various midfield positions - defensive and further forward.

So that would give Maresca some flexibility when naming a team - and means Anderson and Fernandez would be perfectly capable of playing together.

City continue to be linked to another defensive midfielder too in Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi.

Fernandez's relationship with Chelsea worsened after the exit of Maresca in January.

In March he criticised the club after a heavy defeat by Paris St-Germain in the Champions League - and then said his dream was to move to Madrid.

Those Madrid comments led to Chelsea dropping him for two games.

Last month Real Madrid released a statement saying they would not be signing Fernandez - which left City as the only real contenders.

This deadline is just an arbitrary one Chelsea have set City - or any other team - to make an offer for Fernandez.

The actual transfer deadline is on Tuesday, 1 September at 23:00 BST.

BBC Sport's Chelsea reporter Nizaar Kinsella says insiders insist the chance will be gone and Fernandez will stay until next summer, if City do not make their move on Friday.

He adds it is seen as a win-win for Chelsea, who either keep their player or bank £120m.

Whether Chelsea would actually turn down one of the biggest transfer offers in history - if it came a few days later - remains to be seen.

But clubs do often stick to their deadlines - as Manchester United learned in 2020.

They felt Borussia Dortmund were all talk when they set a deadline of 10 August to sign Jadon Sancho.

But when the Red Devils increased their bid after that date, Dortmund rejected it - and they had to wait another year to sign him.

If Fernandez did join City for £120m it would make it the fourth biggest transfer in football history.

And it would also mean City made two of the biggest six signings ever this summer.

Only Alexander Isak from Newcastle to Liverpool last summer for £125m, plus Paris St-Germain's deals for Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in 2017, cost more.

Anderson currently ranks fifth on the list - and Fernandez himself squeezes into the top 10 for his £107m move to Chelsea from Benfica in February 2023.

A deal would take City's spending this summer past £250m following the recruitment of youngsters Pierce Charles, Jeremy Monga and Mathys Detourbet and back-up keeper Geronimo Rulli.

And for 2026 it would be approaching £350m after they spent £82.5m on Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi in January.

But players on big contracts have left on free transfers this summer including Bernardo Silva and John Stones - plus the sale of James Trafford to Leeds for up to £45m.

City midfielder Tijjani Reijnders is set to join Saudi Pro-League outfit Al-Qadsiah in a £52m deal.

This was already guaranteed to be a summer of huge upheaval at City with legendary boss Pep Guardiola leaving after 10 years in charge.

He led City to 17 major trophies, including six Premier League titles, and changed the way many English teams play football.

Maresca, once his assistant manager at Etihad Stadium, takes his place.

But on the pitch it marks a real end of an era too.

If Rodri goes, it means only three players who started the 2023 Champions League final would still be at City - Ruben Dias, Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish, whose future is uncertain.

Defenders Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji have both been sold this summer, and Silva and Stones left at their end of their contracts.

Chelsea will look to replace Fernandez if he does leave - and their deadline would give them over two weeks to do so.

Three weeks ago they had a £64m offer for Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott rejected.

The Blues have also been very busy this summer - and broke their club record to sign attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers for £117m from Aston Villa.

Their spending has already gone past £300m, including £52m for Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix and £47m for Atalanta right-back Marco Palestra.

Selling Fernandez would take their sales total beyond £250m.

City and Chelsea are already not on great terms after the circumstances around Maresca's exit from Chelsea and move to City.

He was frequently butting heads with the Blues' owners in his 18 months in charge and on 1 January left the club.

They were fifth when he left and ended up 10th - with Xabi Alonso having already replaced Maresca's replacement Liam Rosenior this summer.

At the time Maresca's exit was referred to as mutual but he has since said he resigned - and admits it "opened a path" for him to move to City.

It was always widely reported he was the frontrunner to replace Guardiola whenever the Catalan left City, having been his assistant before.

And sure enough at the end of the season he did join City, who had to pay Chelsea a huge compensation figure, even though he was no longer their manager.

Chelsea reporter Kinsella explained: "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.

"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.

"The Italian had twice attracted interest from City before walking out on Chelsa. Ultimately, Maresca got his move but was also forced to apologise on Instagram and pay an undisclosed sum to Chelsea."