LONDON (AP) – Enzo Fernandes’ immediate future at Chelsea remains up in the air.
The Argentina midfielder apologized for saying he wanted to live in Madrid, but Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior on Friday confirmed the player’s whistleblowing. 2-game suspension He said Fernandes still had to overcome “some hurdles”.
Fernandes, 25, missed Chelsea’s 7-0 win over Port Vale in the FA Cup quarter-finals last weekend and will miss Sunday’s Premier League match against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
“He won’t play on Sunday, but hopefully after that he will play an important role in the group,” Rosenior told a press conference.
“There are still some hurdles that need to be overcome so I won’t go into them here, but at the same time I want all the players to be really, really focused on the big run-in.”
The World Cup-winning playmaker was disciplined for saying on a podcast that he wanted to live in Madrid, amid speculation he could move to Real Madrid.
“He has apologized to me and he has apologized to the club. We will deal with it after Sunday’s big game,” Rosenior said. Joined the company in January. “I’m not questioning Enzo’s character. I’m not questioning what he’s like as a person. I believe people make mistakes, and we can’t overstep the punishment for mistakes.”
Rosenior continued: “We took the sanction, we took the decision, I made the decision too. What I want for Enzo is that he stays here and has a great career.”
Chelsea are in sixth place and are in contention to qualify for the Champions League with seven games left in the season.
“Football is a team sport, it’s not about individuals,” Rosenior said. “This club has certain values and a culture that I believe will make the team stronger if you get them right.”
Fernandes joined Chelsea from Benfica in early 2023 for 107 million pounds ($143 million), the highest transfer fee in British history at the time.
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