Benfica head coach Roger Schmidt believes the club is being disrespected by another club in the pursuit of Enzo Fernandez. The World Cup champion player from Argentina has been strongly linked to Chelsea, who are reportedly in talks with Benfica over the 21-year-old. Benfica is insisting that Fernandez’s €120 million (£106 million) release clause be fulfilled, with a sizable portion of the transfer cost paid upfront.
“There is a club that is interested in him; they made an effort to entice him, but they are aware that they must pay the clause in order to obtain him,” Benfica head coach Roger Schmidt said. “They’re disrespecting Benfica, us all, and the player. They act as though they want to fulfill the clause while really wanting to negotiate.”
According to Portuguese sources, Fernandez asked to sit out of Benfica’s match against Braga on Friday, but the midfielder played 89 minutes in the unexpected 3-0 loss to Braga, which was the season’s first loss for the Primeira Liga leaders. Prior to Benfica’s next game against Portimonense at home on Friday, Schmidt made these remarks during his pre-game news conference. Fernandez is believed to be eager to leave the Portuguese club during the January transfer window. If Chelsea were to meet his release clause, he would become the most expensive acquisition in Premier League history.
Chelsea wants to pay his release clause in installments rather than in full, which they are not willing to do. They are willing to pay more than the £106 million release clause if it allows for a deal in installments in order to close the deal as soon as possible. Following the club’s announcement on Thursday that it had acquired Benoit Badiashile from Monaco for £35 million, Chelsea’s chase of Fernandez has continued. After David Datro Fofana signed from Molde, the France defender is the Blues’ second addition of the transfer window.
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