Chelsea Transfer News Today: Fernandez waves goodbye as €120m decision made

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

All the latest Chelsea transfer news in one place, including updates on Enzo Fernandez, Joao Pedro and Jarrod Bowen.

Fernandez says adios

Enzo Fernandez appeared to bid farewell to the Chelsea supporters who made the trek up to Sunderland to watch a lacklustre 2-1 defeat on the final day of the season.

Ben Jacobs reports that the Argentine would "welcome" a summer bid from Real Madrid, while he also confirmed that preliminary discussions with Man City have taken place. Former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is set to replace Pep Guardiola at the Etihad and wants to sign Fernandez.

Chelsea reporter Si Phillips claims that the midfielder is "set to leave" and echoes Jacobs' reporting that Fernandez will not be offered up cheaply. His suitors will still have to shell out a handsome fee for the Blues to avoid a book loss on their €121 million signing.

Pedro to Barcelona virtually impossible

Fabrizio Romano has corroborated reports that Barcelona are set to be frustrated in their pursuit of Chelsea forward Joao Pedro.

Over the weekend, it was claimed that the Stamford Bridge club would be willing to reject world-record fees in order to keep the Brazil international. Romano has confirmed that Chelsea have put a "very high wall" around Pedro.

"Joao Pedro is not going to be at the World Cup, so the negotiations can be different. But in terms of Chelsea's desire, as of today, it's a very high wall around Joao Pedro," Romano said.

"It's been a tough season for Chelsea, a very complicated season, three different managers. And so to let Joao Pedro go at this stage of the project with a new coach - ambitious like Xabi Alonso - incoming seems something really, really complicated.

"Chelsea have absolutely no intention to discuss. And it's not about €90m, €100m, €120m. It's not about numbers."

Bowen to stay at West Ham?

West Ham star Jarrod Bowen has suggested that he could stay at the club despite their relegation to the Championship.

The winger has been strongly linked with a move away from the Hammers, with Chelsea one of several top clubs to be linked with the England international. However, Bowen claims that his goal is to bring West Ham back to the Premier League.

“I’m under contract here. I’ve been here for six-and-a-half years. I’ve had some really high moments and this is a low moment that will outweigh everything. There’s going to be rumours, there’s going to be talk.

"Ultimately, what I see is getting this club back in the Premier League because that is where it deserves to be. This is a really, really low moment, but we have to bounce back because there’s no other way.

"You never know what the future holds. For me, I want to get this club back in the Premier League. Right now, our vision is to do that."

Did Chelsea tank against Sunderland?

The nature of Chelsea's abject performance against Sunderland on Sunday suggests that the Blues may have purposefully "tanked" to avoid qualifying for the Conference League again.

Chelsea's dire outing resulted in a 2-1 loss and saw them drop out of European contention entirely, meaning that Xabi Alonso will only have to focus on the Premier League and domestic cups next season.

For a club like Chelsea, qualifying for the Conference League makes little sense because of the trivial prize money on offer. By not playing in a UEFA competition, Chelsea will not be at risk of breaching the governing body's spending rules again, lending credence to the idea that they did not actually want to beat Sunderland.