Manchester City have sold three midfielders this summer, and now have six days to sign Enzo Fernandez

Twelve days ago Manchester City sat out a deadline Chelsea had set them, declined to bid £120 million for Enzo Fernandez, and let the whole thing lapse. They are now expected to go back in for him before the transfer window shuts at 11pm on 1 September. Fabrizio Romano reported on Tuesday that City will send a formal bid before the end of the window, and that Chelsea will only talk at 140 million euros, which in sterling is roughly the number City already walked away from.

The deadline they let pass

Chelsea did something clubs rarely bother with in August. They put a clock on it, giving City until 5pm on Friday 14 August to lodge a formal offer. The hour went by and nothing arrived. The £120 million had been agreed with Fernandez’s representatives back in May, and once the deadline expired Chelsea pulled those terms off the table.

Sky Sports reported three days later that City had not lost interest, only that they would take their time deciding before 1 September. That is the part worth holding on to. Nothing about the player changed in the fortnight since. What changed is what City had in the bank.

City have sold three midfielders since May

Rodri went to Barcelona for £65.4 million. Tijjani Reijnders went to Al Qadsiah for £52 million. Nico Gonzalez, signed from Porto for around £50 million in January 2025, has agreed a move to Newcastle worth up to £52 million, with £48 million guaranteed. Add James Trafford to Leeds and Savio to Tottenham for £85 million and this has been a summer of departures at the Etihad on a scale City have not run in years.

The money has gone back out again, mostly. Elliot Anderson arrived from Nottingham Forest for £116 million, which stands as City’s record signing, and Ayyoub Bouaddi came from Lille in a deal that can reach £86 million. Jeremy Monga cost £10 million from Leicester. Fernandez at anything near 140 million euros would push past Anderson and reset that record inside a single window.

Why Fernandez wants it

Enzo Maresca coached him at Chelsea, agreed a three-year deal in May to replace Pep Guardiola, and is now the manager at the Etihad. Fernandez has since been playing under Xabi Alonso, who took the Chelsea job this summer. Romano’s line is that the player has opened the door to the move rather than pushed it down, which sounds about right for a midfielder with six years left on his contract and no leverage beyond willingness.

None of this is new for him. Chelsea banned him for two matches in April, when Liam Rosenior was in charge, after he told ESPN Argentina “I don’t know” about whether he would still be at the club this season and then said he liked the idea of living in Madrid. The club said a line had been crossed. He and his agent apologised, and the ban stood anyway.

Chelsea do not have to do anything

Fernandez signed from Benfica in January 2023 for £106.8 million, a British record at the time, and his contract runs to 2032. Chelsea have spent heavily themselves, with Morgan Rogers arriving from Aston Villa for £117 million, so there is no financial gun at their head. They have said throughout they would rather keep him, and the €140 million figure reads less like an invitation than a price set to be refused.

On Monday at Craven Cottage he came on in the second half of Chelsea’s 3-2 win at Fulham and was booed by the home crowd, which had more to do with Argentina knocking England out of the World Cup in July than with anything happening at the Etihad. Xabi Alonso won his first league game in charge regardless.

Six days remain. City need Chelsea to move, Chelsea need City to pay, and the player in the middle has been booed by two different sets of supporters in recent weeks, one lot for wanting to leave and the other for something he did in a semi-final.

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