Real Madrid are preparing to make a shock move to sign Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez, according to reports.
Shortly after winning the 2022 World Cup with Argentina, Chelsea signed Fernandez for £107million, making him the most expensive Premier League player of all-time.
Initially underwhelming under Graham Potter and Mauricio Pochettino, the midfielder has begun to live up to expectations in Enzo Maresca’s side.
At one stage it appeared the Italian head coach did not rate the 24-year-old, but he has grown into a key part of the team alongside Moises Caicedo and skippers the side in the absence of Reece James.
His efforts have helped Chelsea in the race for the top four and he’ll hope to add to his three goals and eight assists when the Blues travel to Manchester City on Saturday evening.
Given his form and astronomical transfer fee, it is hard to imagine Fernandez leaving Stamford Bridge any time soon, but that could well happen.
Reports from South America, via The Sun, claim Real Madrid are very interested in acquiring Fernandez’s services though they do not wish to offer a transfer fee.
Instead, Los Blancos want to negotiate a straight swap deal that would see Aurelien Tchouameni move to west London.
The 24-year-old, who played for France in the World Cup final against Fernandez’s Argentina, joined Real from Monaco in 2022 in a deal worth an initial £67m.
He’s gone onto win La Liga and the Champions League but has become frustrated this season as Carlo Ancelotti has frequently deployed him at centre-back rather than his preferred defensive midfield position.
Though a highly-rated player, it remains to be seen whether Chelsea have any interest in Tchouameni who is a much more defensive player than Fernandez.
Not everyone is convinced by the quality of the Blues vice-captain however, with Graeme Souness previously slating Fernandez and some of his teammates.
Speaking in Novemer, the Liverpool legend said: ‘From the current squad, I think there’ll be an enormous wastage of players and a lot of them will never live up to the levels that people think they will.
‘The most obvious one for me is someone who isn’t even in the team at the moment, Enzo Fernandez, on whom they spent £107million.
‘They’ve bought a load of players who won’t reach the level they would’ve hoped.’
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