Manchester City are being linked with a major summer approach for Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez, with Enzo Maresca said to be open to the idea of a reunion.<\/p>\n
The speculation around Fern\u00e1ndez had eased after a blunt statement, particularly with the 25-year-old due to rejoin Chelsea on Wednesday after the 2026 World Cup. Even so, the possibility of a move to the Etihad Stadium has returned after City reportedly made contact with his camp, according to Fabrizio Romano.<\/p>\n
Chelsea\u2019s position remains clear. They are said to be demanding \u00a3120 million ($162 million) and are not expected to lower that figure. City, meanwhile, are understood to be hoping to negotiate, but the gap between the two sides is substantial.<\/p>\n
Any move would also sit alongside City\u2019s wider midfield planning, with the club preparing for a future without Rodri. The newly crowned Golden Ball and World Cup winner is reportedly set to join Barcelona this summer, leaving Manchester with one year left on his current deal. City rejected Barcelona\u2019s opening bid of $52 million (\u00a338.5 million), although discussions are still ongoing.<\/p>\n
The club are also expected to sign World Cup breakout star Ayyoub Bouaddi, though reports indicate the teenager is not being lined up to replace Rodri directly.<\/p>\n
Fern\u00e1ndez may now be viewed as the player best placed to fill that role. He has already established himself as one of the Premier League\u2019s leading midfielders and produced his strongest form under Maresca.<\/p>\n
A return to working with the Italian coach, this time in sky blue, could also appeal after Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s public falling out with the Chelsea hierarchy. That tension followed a two-game suspension over comments about a possible transfer last season.<\/p>\n
City\u2019s midfield is already well stocked after the summer arrival of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for $153.9 million (\u00a3116 million), while Nico Gonz\u00e1lez, Tijjani Reijnders and Mateo Kova\u010di\u0107 are also in the squad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
City\u2019s interest in Fern\u00e1ndez grows as Chelsea hold firm and Rodri\u2019s future begins to shape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,238,1397],"tags":[59,180,182],"class_list":["post-18423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-manchester-city","category-transfer-news","tag-featured","tag-player-news","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}