Enzo Fernandez to Real Madrid is now one of the biggest topics in world football, and ahead of their FA Cup quarterfinal matchup against Port Vale this weekend, the Blues only fanned the flames of the transfer rumors.
The Argentinian defensive midfielder has been disgruntled and toying with a move away from Stamford Bridge for weeks, not taking kindly to Liam Rosenior's reign as manager. Fernandez has been publicly swooning over Real Madrid with a persistence not even matched by former La Liga star Rodri over at Manchester City.
In response to his public overtures, Chelse have gone the punitive route. They have left Enzo out of the official squad against Port Vale as part of a sanction of two games, banning Fernandez from the team as punishment for openly flirting with Real Madrid.
Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez punishment will backfire
In response, Enzo's agent and former Argentinian midfielder Javier Pastore made public statements of his own, criticizing Chelsea's rather wild decision to punish Enzo in what was definitely meant as a show of force by manager Liam Rosenior and the club as a whole.
Well, the problem is that Chelsea just nudged Enzo Fernandez further out the door and closer to Real Madrid by publicly alienating him. Really, this is a humilitation, saying that the club does not want a star player in the lineup for two games because he is commenting about another team.
Unlike Rodri, the issue with Enzo is not injury history, age, or Florentino Perez being unconvinced. The issue is the transfer fee. Chelsea have Enzo locked in until 2032, and they want at least 100 million euros for their former record signing from Benfica. Real Madrid obviously don't want to spend that money and are hoping his price can be driven down, perhaps by Chelsea failing to make the Champions League next season, which is honestly very much on the cards.
But now that Chelsea are publicly punishing Enzo, this could become a war of attrition. It also makes it clear that Chelsea do not view Enzo as untouchable, which hurts their financial leverage on the open transfer market. Real Madrid have to be looking at this and licking their lips, because Chelsea are unwittingly driving Enzo's transfer fee down from an expected 100 million euros to something that should be much more palatable for Florentino Perez and Real Madrid to absorb. The Enzo rumors are not going away, and this punishment will only accelerate them.