Enzo Fernandez has been sanctioned by Chelsea after appearing to advocate for a move to European rivals Real Madrid during the international break.
‘I spoke to Enzo an hour ago,’ Liam Rosenior said on Friday. ‘As a football club we’ve made a decision.
‘He won’t be available for tomorrow’s game and he won’t be available for Manchester City. We think a line was crossed. It’s not ideal. A lot of it stemmed from a really difficult ten days, probably the most difficult ten days of my career.’
‘As a person and player, I have the utmost respect for Enzo Fernandez. It was a joint decision.
‘And saying that, the door is not closed on Enzo. You have to protect that culture. And in terms of that, a line was crossed in the international break.’
Rosenior went on to describe Fernandez’s interview as ‘disappointing’
Enzo Fernandez has been sidelined for comments made during the international break about his future which ‘crossed the line’
The midfielder will now be omitted from Chelsea’s next two matchday squads: against Port Vale in their FA Cup clash on Saturday, and to face Manchester City in Premier League action next week.
The manager also held a meeting with Marc Cucurella on Thursday, after the Spain international seemingly criticised Chelsea’s transfer strategy, and the sacking of former manager Enzo Maresca, in a wide-ranging interview during the break.
‘I had a productive conversation with Marc yesterday, 30 minutes in my office,’ Rosenior added. ‘My disappointment in Marc’s interview is where it went to.
‘I think he should have come and spoken to us first. Why I was in a meeting with him for half an hour was to remind him, “You can come to me, you can speak to me”.
‘That’s a separate case and Marc is available and will be involved tomorrow.’
After defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, Fernandez publicly questioned his future at Stamford Bridge, before days later, in a livestream with Argentine channel SpiderCARP, he appeared to issue a come-and-get-me plea to sometime suitors Real Madrid.
Asked which other city he would like to live in, Fernandez replied: ‘Madrid… I like Madrid very much… it’s similar to Buenos Aires.’
Cucurella griped that Chelsea’s two-legged defeat to Paris Saint-Germain suggested that ‘we are still a bit away from the top level’.
‘I understand this is part of the club’s policy, and that they want to take this direction – signing young players and looking to the future,’ he said. ‘But, for all of us who are still here and want to win big things, moments like this make you feel discouraged.
‘We have a good core of players. The foundations are there. But to fight for major trophies, you need more. Signing young players only might complicate achieving those goals. Against PSG, we lacked players that had gone through situations like that.’
