“Couldn’t do anything”- Benfica boss offers candid verdict on star player jumping ship to Chelsea

Benfica boss shares his views on Enzo Fernandez moving to Chelsea

As quoted by NY Breaking, Benfica boss Roger Schmidt shared his views on midfielder Enzo Fernandez moving to Chelsea in the dying embers of the January transfer window.

Chelsea today announced the signature of Fernandez for a British record fee of £106.8m. The player has signed a contract with the club until the summer of 2031.

The Blues were interested in signing the World Cup winner earlier in January too. But, Benfica was adamant about not selling him unless the release clause is met. At that time, Schmidt had accused the west London club of a disrespectful approach to making this move happen.

Here’s what he said when the deal eventually got done on the final hours of the transfer window (h/t NY Breaking):

“Benfica is much bigger than a player. We only need players who are happy to play for Benfica, who are passionate.

“We had a player who wanted to leave and a club willing to pay the clause, we couldn’t do anything. We accept and investigate it.”

That does not sound like a person who is happy that a player has left his team on deadline day. Not only do Benfica lose their star midfielder, but they also did not get any time to find a plausible replacement.

The frustrating thing for Schmidt must be the supposed lack of loyalty shown by the player. Fernandez signed for the Portuguese side last summer from River Plate. So, he spent only half a season with a club that brought him to the European map. So, one can understand why the manager is agitated.

But for Chelsea, this is a fantastic move. Graham Potter needed an injection of quality and dynamism in the middle of the park. With Fernandez in, they would have a player who possesses a mixture of passing quality and tenacity on or off the ball.

More Chelsea News:

• Chelsea make an approach to sign Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella
• Chelsea are aiming to make one last lunge in the hopes of signing Moises Caicedo from Brighton Hove & Albion
• Tottenham Hotspur will sign Chelsea U21 forward Jude Soonsup-Bell in the January transfer window

Now, we can hope that the 21-year-old continues to show his qualities at Stamford Bridge and help us finish this season on a high. Even if he takes time to settle down, the propensity of the player would make sure that he will come good in due course of time.