Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez has only added to Chelsea supporters\u2019 irritation after speaking warmly about his Deadline Day move to Manchester City.<\/p>\n
The midfielder, who had already drawn a mixed response from fans during preseason and again in the club\u2019s Premier League opener, admitted he was delighted to join a club \u201cas big as Manchester City\u201d. His remarks, delivered after completing the switch, are unlikely to calm the mood around his departure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m grateful for the opportunity,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez continued to City\u2019s in-house media team. \u201cIt\u2019s a very emotional moment for me and my family, to take this step at 25 years old, in a football career that I always dreamed of.<\/p>\n
\u201cManchester City have to win every trophy they compete for. In every competition we play in, we have to compete and win, because this club\u2019s history demands that. To be honest, from the first day they believed in me and called me to say they wanted me to join the club, I didn\u2019t hesitate for a second.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a club that has won a lot in recent years. It\u2019s a club that is making history in football and, for me, it\u2019s a huge challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reaction from Chelsea fans had already sharpened after comments involving Maresca. Supporters had once sung Maresca\u2019s name in the second half of last season, backing the former boss in protest at both the ownership and the direction of Liam Rosenior\u2019s spell in charge. That goodwill faded when his move to City made it clear he had been pursuing such a switch while still under contract at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n
Maresca also attracted criticism in a recent interview with Viaplay, where he was asked about the proudest moments of his career so far. He referred to work at a \u201cdifferent club\u201d where he \u201cwon something\u201d, without naming Chelsea or mentioning the Conference League and Club World Cup.<\/p>\n
Fern\u00e1ndez took a similar line when discussing his former manager: \u201cHe is a top manager, honestly,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said of Maresca. \u201cI had him at my previous club. They were incredible moments. I learned so much with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, we were both very eager for it to happen, because it wasn\u2019t easy for me to be here today. But I know he also made a big effort, speaking to the club, and I\u2019m grateful that he did that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chelsea will not meet City until Dec. 12, when the league fixture is scheduled to be played at the Etihad Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s City move and his comments have intensified Chelsea anger, with a reunion set for Dec. 12.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,238],"tags":[1836,182],"class_list":["post-19056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-manchester-city","tag-2026-27-premier-league","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19056","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=19056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}