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‘Disrespectful’ Chelsea are ‘driving Enzo Fernandez crazy’ by ‘pretending’ they’ll pay his £106m release clause, says Benfica boss Roger Schmidt… while telling Todd Boehly NO other orders will be accepted offers
- Chelsea have been negotiating with Benfica for midfielder Enzo Fernández
- The two clubs have not yet reached an agreement on a deal for the Argentine.
- Benfica manager Roger Schmidt accused Chelsea of being ‘disrespectful’
- He feels the club have no intention of paying Fernandez’s £106m release clause.
- Schmidt also believes that Chelsea’s conduct has driven Fernández “crazy”
Benfica manager Roger Schmidt has accused Chelsea of being ‘disrespectful’ in their search for Enzo Fernandez and believes the Premier League club is ‘faking’ being prepared to pay his £106m release clause.
Chelsea have made the 21-year-old their main transfer target after he played a starring role in Argentina’s World Cup victory last month and have been in talks with Benfica in recent days.
But the two clubs have yet to reach an agreement, and Schmidt feels Chelsea owner Todd Boehly is not serious about paying Fernandez’s release clause in full.
Chelsea have been in negotiations with Benfica for midfielder Enzo Fernández
Benfica boss Roger Schmidt believes Todd Boehly has no intention of paying Fernandez’s release clause
Speaking ahead of Benfica’s league match with Portimonense on Friday, Schmidt said: “We know there is a release clause. If he wants to leave and someone breaks the clause, we may lose the player.
There is a club that wants him, they tried to attract him, but they know that they can only have him if they pay the clause.
‘It is a lack of respect for all of us, for Benfica. They are driving the player crazy, they pretend they want to pay the clause and then they want to negotiate.
Chelsea have reportedly tried various ways to get Benfica to agree to sell Fernandez to them, including paying his transfer fee in installments and offering £87m plus three players to take him to Stamford Bridge.
Schmidt accused Chelsea of driving Fernández crazy with his persecution
However, Schmidt’s comments make it clear that Benfica are only interested in letting Fernández go if his release clause is met.
Fernández missed Benfica’s training earlier in the week after deciding to fly back to Argentina as speculation about his future continued.
The Benfica fans have vented their anger on social networks for his absence, and Schimdt has confirmed that Fernández will be sanctioned for his behavior, but has hinted that he does not entirely blame the player for the “confusing” situation in which he finds himself .
‘Enzo is a good guy and an extraordinary player, we want him to stay. The situation is not easy. He played in the World Cup, he won the World Cup, he had proposals, there is a lot of money at stake,’ Schimdt said.
‘He is a young man, this is confusing, we all understand this. But he is an excellent person. He was not authorized to go to Argentina, it is not acceptable. There will be consequences, I won’t say which ones.