Alonso confirms Enzo Fernandez dropped from Chelsea squad as £120m City move looms

Xabi Alonso confirmed that Enzo Fernandez was deliberately left out of Chelsea’s squad for their Carabao Cup tie against Luton Town, contradicting his own statement from the previous day that he expected the midfielder to be included. The omission comes amid mounting speculation that Manchester City will return with a fresh offer for the Argentina international before the transfer window closes next Tuesday.

“We assessed situations, individual and collective and we have decided he is not in the squad for today,” Alonso said ahead of Chelsea’s first competitive home game of the new season.

Chelsea value Fernandez at around £120m, and City have already missed one informal deadline this month without submitting a formal bid. Despite spending approximately £200m on midfielders Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi this summer, City’s rebuild in the middle of the park is understood to be unfinished.

Fernandez did feature for Chelsea in their Premier League opener at Fulham on Monday, coming off the bench to a relatively warm reception from the travelling support. That stood in contrast to the hostile reception he received from Fulham fans at Craven Cottage — a reaction tied to his involvement in Argentina’s World Cup semi-final victory over England — and the booing he had faced from some Chelsea supporters during a pre-season friendly against Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge.

When asked directly whether he wanted to keep Fernandez, Alonso was carefully non-committal. “We want to have the best team possible. We know his qualities. He has shown it and we have to wait, but we will think about tomorrow and let’s see how things develop,” he said.

Alonso also declined to confirm whether any departure would be contingent on signing a replacement. Chelsea are understood to be preparing a bid for Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott, with the Cherries having so far rebuffed interest. A fee in excess of £80m — and potentially closer to £90m — is believed to be the threshold that could prompt Bournemouth to reconsider.

“It is always about understanding the context, the situation, timings, circumstances, so there is not a defined rule for everything,” Alonso said. “You need to know how things have worked, what you want, what you want for the future, so I don’t have the rules in stone. We need to assess each situation.”

With the deadline arriving on Tuesday, Chelsea’s handling of Fernandez over the coming days will be one of the most closely watched transfer sagas of the window’s final hours.