Roger Schmidt (left) and Thomas Tuchel know each other from their time together in the Bundesliga. Schmidt coached Bayer Leverkusen, Tuchel, among others, Borussia Dortmund.Image: imago sport photo service / imago images
Soccer International
The year 2022 could not have gone better for Enzo Fernández. The Argentinian first moved from his home country of River Plate to Benfica Lisbon in the summer, then he made his debut with the national team in September and was even allowed to go to Qatar for the World Cup.
During the tournament he became a regular player and didn’t miss a minute from the round of 16 onwards. Also because of the strong performances in Qatar, the central midfielder is on numerous wish lists of top European clubs. Among others from Chelsea.
Roger Schmidt with heavy criticism of Chelsea
The bosses of the top English team would apparently like to sign the 21-year-old. The only catch: Fernández has a long-term contract until 2027 and has a release clause of around 120 million euros.
Lisbon coach Roger Schmidt criticized Chelsea very harshly in a press conference on Thursday: “They drive the player crazy, pretend that they can pay the clause and later they want to negotiate. That’s not what I mean by a good relationship between Clubs talking about a player understand.”
Schmidt also described the Blues’ behavior as “disrespectful”. “They tried to get the player but they know they can only get him if they pay the clause. The situation is simple.” The biggest problem should therefore be that the 120 million of the exit clause would be due immediately in one installment. Chelsea can’t afford that because of financial fair play.
“We don’t want to sell him. Not me, not the President – nobody.”
Lisbon coach Roger Schmidt
Transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio had even reported that Chelsea would have been willing to pay €127m if the payment were split into three installments.
At the press conference, Schmidt made it clear once again: “We don’t want to sell him. Not me, not the President – nobody. Everyone knows he has a clause in his contract. If the player wants to leave and a club comes that pays the clause, then there’s nothing we can do about it.”
It is currently unknown whether Chelsea will make another attempt to sign Fernández. According to Schmidt’s clear statements, nothing can avoid the 120 million euro fee for a transfer from Fernández.
Borussia Dortmund’s Giovanni Reyna has had a difficult year. The highly talented creative player was not available for BVB 2022 for a total of 174 days due to injuries and subsequent training deficits.
