Chelsea are making a huge transfer mistake as Enzo Fernandez replacement plan confirmed

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Cameron Smith | Digital Content Producer

Chelsea have officially reached an agreement to sell Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City for a British record transfer fee of £125 million following lengthy talks on Deadline Day, but it’s not guaranteed that a replacement will arrive.

The Argentina international has been desperate to join City ever since being rejected by Real Madrid earlier this summer and a deal has finally been struck for him to reunite with Enzo Maresca at the Etihad Stadium.

Current ETV

Enzo Fernández

M, DM (C)

Chelsea

Enzo Fernández

M, DM (C)

Chelsea

€83.3M

ETV Range

€75M - €91.7M

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Fernandez will undergo his medical shortly before becoming Man City’s most expensive signing in history, breaking the record set by Elliot Anderson earlier this summer. In fact, three of City’s four priciest deals in history have been finalised since Maresca’s appointment in June (Fernandez, Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi), with the club keen to back their new boss.

For Chelsea, however, their vast spending for the summer may already be over, despite their need to add a new midfielder to Xabi Alonso’s squad.

Lamine Camara was viewed as their priority target to replace Fernandez, but an initial bid worth €45m was rejected earlier today and AS Monaco have now turned down a second offer of €50m, as per a report from RMC Sport correspondent Fabrice Hawkins.

It’s reported that Monaco aren’t willing to sell the midfielder before the window closes and widespread rumours suggest that Chelsea may not bring in a replacement for Fernandez at all after experiencing difficulties in their pursuits of Camara and AS Roma star Manu Kone.

Multiple Blues journalists have insisted that Chelsea are happy with their squad despite the loss of Fernandez and while they will continue to explore a potential signing before the window closes, it’s far from guaranteed that a deal will be agreed.

In fact, as things stand, it looks likely that Chelsea won’t sign a new midfielder tonight.

That is despite the fact that Moises Caicedo has struggled with injury in recent weeks and was forced off just 14 minutes after coming on versus Brighton & Hove Albion. Malo Gusto started alongside the injury-prone Romeo Lavia in the middle of the park against Fabian Hurzeler’s side, with Reece James and Valentin Barco on the substitutes bench.

The extent of Caicedo’s injury is currently unknown, but Chelsea are taking a major risk if they opt against signing another midfielder and given they look primed for a strong season under Xabi Alonso, that could prove to be a costly error.

Chelsea unlikely to launch late bid for new midfielder

When Fernandez’s move to Man City is officially announced, Chelsea will have a positive net spend of over €30m this summer, thanks to several smart sales, and that figure will be boosted further by the permanent exits of Tosin Adarabioyo to Tottenham Hotspur (€8m) and Deivid Washington to Strasbourg (€16m). Loan fees will also be received for Mykhailo Mudryk and Robert Sanchez.

So, Chelsea have the financial means to spend big before the window slams shut at 23:00 BST. However, they don’t appear likely to utilise this cash injection.

Instead, they are set to retain faith in their current options, including summer signings Valentin Barco and Jordan Henderson, despite the fact that a deal has now been agreed for Dario Essugo to join Strasbourg on loan. That is a huge mistake.