Chelsea flop Fernandez given Barcelona escape route

Enzo Fernandez has been offered an escape route from Chelsea, according to reports.

The Argentine was dropped from the Blues starting XI for their 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Sunday, with head coach Enzo Maresca opting for a double pivot of Moises Caicdeo and Romeo Lavia instead.

Fernandez’s future at the club is becoming unclear. He was brought to Stamford Bridge for a club record €121 million last year but is now fighting for his spot at Chelsea.

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Fernadez has featured in 75 games in all competitions for Chelsea so far, netting seven goals and providing just six assists. There have been glimpses of his brilliance in moments but those have been too few and far between.

Meanwhile, FootballTransfers’ Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) algorithm has seen his stock plummet. Once valued €82.7m, Fernandez is worth just €54.3m, half of what the Blues forked out on him.

The Sun report that Fernandez “has no intention of sitting on the bench for months on end if he falls down the pecking order” and that “Inter Milan and Barcelona – two of Europe’s biggest clubs – are now both monitoring the situation.”

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Maresca backs Fernandez

Maresca has publicly backed the former Benfica man, saying last week that the sum Chelsea paid for him is not Fernandez’s fault.: “They are human beings and if you pay £100m that is not my problem. You want to buy me then you pay that money.

“That does not mean that every game you have to be the best. At the end of the day they are football players and they cannot always be at the top level.

“At this moment Enzo is not playing but there is no problem with Enzo. The noise about Enzo is because clubs pay so much money for them, people expect they will always be the best. That is not so.

“The only reason he is not playing is just because the physicality I prefer is from Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.”