Manchester City will make a bid for Fernandez, valued at £120 million

Manchester City is ready to make an opening bid Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez.

The Argentina international has been identified by manager Enzo Maresca as a priority target to strengthen City’s midfield following a series of high-profile exits.

Chelsea they are aware of the city’s interest and set an unofficial deadline for the deal to be completed early this summer with a minimum fee of £120 million just for that date to pass.

However, City are expected to return with another attempt to sign the 25-year-old before next week’s transfer deadline.

Despite the situation, Fernandez remains available for selection Chelseaagainst Luton Town in the Carabao Cup on Thursday, due to an injury to midfielder Moises Caicedo.

“Yes, we expect him to be involved. He has trained, he is training very well, he is a good professional and will be involved” Chelsea said manager Xabi Alonso.

And he adds: “We want to have the best team possible. We know his qualities, he has shown it and we have to wait, but we will think about tomorrow and see how things develop.”

Fernandez could become one of the most expensive signings in Premier League history, only behind Liverpool’s £125m move for Alexander Isak last summer.

Fernandez maintains a positive relationship with Maresca, who is gone Chelsea controversially on New Year’s Day and moved to the Etihad Stadium in June.

It could potentially be the second time City have broken their transfer record in the same window paid £116 million to recruit Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.

There were also four important departures from midfield, with Tijjani Reijnders has been sold to Saudi club Al-Qadsiah for £52mwhile Barcelona signed Rodri for £65 million, Newcastle they agreed a £52m deal to sign Nico Gonzalez and Bernardo Silva left at the start of the summer before joining Real Madrid.

It’s been a turbulent time for Fernandez at Stamford Bridge, during which he and his agent, former Paris St-Germain midfielder Javier Pastore, courted interest from Real Madrid, only for the Spanish club issue a statement denying any attempt to engage him.

The situation has been ongoing ever since Chelsea they were eliminated from the Champions League by PSG in March, after which Fernandez became increasingly critical of the club.

New Chelsea Manager Alonso spoke in July about a private conversation he had with Fernandez, who signed for £107m from Benfica in 2023, but declined to reveal details of the discussion.

Fernandez came on as a second-half substitute in Monday’s 3-2 win Fulham and was booed by the home fans due to his role in England’s exit from the World Cup.

After celebrating briefly with visiting fans and teammates after the final whistle, he was first Chelsea player to go down the tunnel.

ChelseaThe record sale of is Eden Hazard’s transfer to Real Madrid in 2019, which was worth an initial £89m plus add-ons bringing it up to a potential £150m.