Chelsea like England star ‘immensely’ as possible Enzo Fernandez replacement | Football

Chelsea’s hierarchy have reportedly identified Morgan Gibbs-White as a possible replacement should Enzo Fernandez complete a move to Manchester City.

Enzo Maresca is keen to be reunited with Fernandez at Manchester City after working with the midfielder during his 18-month tenure at Stamford Bridge.

Fernandez went public with his criticism of the Chelsea board last season and has repeatedly flirted with the idea of a move away from west London over the last 12 months, with Real Madrid also known to be long-term admirers.

However, Chelsea are believed to be demanding a fee in excess of £120million for Fernandez before this summer’s transfer deadline and potential suitors are rapidly running out of time to secure a deal for the wantaway Argentinian.

After being booed by Chelsea fans in pre-season, Fernandez was limited to just 25 minutes of the side’s Premier League opener against Fulham – and he was left out altogether by Xabi Alonso versus both Luton and Brighton.

According to the BBC’s Sami Mokbel, Fernandez wants to reconnect with Maresca at the Etihad but Chelsea’s eye-watering asking price has created a ‘major stumbling block’ during negotiations, as things stand.

The Blues have, though, drawn up contingency plans in the event that they do sanction Fernandez’s departure, with Monaco’s Lamine Camara mooted as a possible successor in the middle of the park.

The report claims Nottingham Forest and England’s Gibbs-White is another midfielder who Chelsea ‘like immensely’, making him a player to ‘keep an eye on’ in the closing stages of the transfer window.

This summer, City have already splashed out £116m on Gibbs-White’s former Forest team-mate Elliot Anderson, plus £86m on Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi, and it remains to be seen if they will be willing to meet Chelsea’s valuation for Fernandez.

Gibbs-White has racked up 37 goals and 36 assists in 173 appearances for Forest since arriving at the City Ground from Wolves back in 2022.

He has started both of Forest’s opening Premier League matches against Liverpool and Leeds, but missed the Reds’ Carabao Cup clash with the latter due to a minor knee injury .

The 26-year-old midfielder – who was controversially left out of Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad this summer – is tied into a contract with Forest until June 2028.

Facing the media after Chelsea’s 4-3 victory over Brighton on Sunday, Alonso tried to reassure fans he would have a ‘good enough squad’ at his disposal for the season ahead, irrespective of what the future holds for Fernandez.

‘We are preparing for all scenarios,’ the Chelsea manager said when asked for an update on Fernandez’s situation at his post-match press conference.

‘I can promise you that, whatever happens, from Wednesday, we will have a good enough squad to compete in all the Premier League games.’

Chelsea broke their transfer record to sign Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa in a £117m move last month – surpassing the £107m fee they spent to capture Fernandez from Benfica back in 2023.

The Blues have also added Maxence Lacroix, Marco Palestra, Geovany Quenda, Valentin Barco, Emmanuel Emegha, Pep Chavarria, Emiliano Martinez, Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson to their first-team squad in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Andrey Santos, Nicolas Jackson, Marc Cucurella, Liam Delap, Trevoh Chalobah and Tyrique George brought their respective spells to an end across what has been a summer of major change and upheaval in west London.

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