Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández will not feature in Sunday’s Premier League showdown against Manchester City after the club decided to uphold his internal suspension despite his apology over recent comments about Madrid.
Head coach Liam Rosenior confirmed the Argentine will again be left out as Chelsea stick to the two-match internal ban imposed last week. Naija News reports that the sanction followed an interview during the international break in which Enzo Fernández spoke about his admiration for the city of Madrid.
Fernández, 23, has been repeatedly linked with a move to Real Madrid, adding further attention to his remarks.
His agent, Javier Pastore, said earlier this week that “we cleared the air” with Chelsea after Fernández missed last Saturday’s 7-0 FA Cup win over Port Vale. There had been hope that the punishment could be reduced to a single match, but that has not been accepted by the club.
Rosenior confirmed the situation remains unchanged.
“I had three or four [conversations] with Enzo,” said Rosenior.
“He’s apologised to me, he’s apologised to the club, and we’ll deal with that after a massive game on Sunday.
“It was a serious meeting about something very serious. I’m not questioning Enzo’s character or who he is as a person. We’ve made a sanction, we made a decision, I made a decision, and what I want for Enzo is for him to come here and have an outstanding career.”
Chelsea, currently sixth in the Premier League and one point behind Liverpool in the final Champions League spot, will again be without several key players.
Rosenior stressed he is not “shooting myself in the foot” by keeping Fernández out, adding that there are “hurdles” still to clear before the midfielder returns.
“He won’t play on Sunday, but hopefully after that he’ll be a massive part of the group moving forward,” he said.
“There are still a few hurdles to be overcome that I won’t go into, but at the same time I want every player really focused on a huge run.”
Chelsea will also be without Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill for the match at Stamford Bridge.
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