Enzo Fernandez will be in Chelsea next season, according to the boss Enzo Maresca, after speculation connecting the Argentinian international to Real Madrid.
Madrid will seek to rebuild their midfielder this summer as they try to regain parity with Barcelona, who swept everything away from them at the national level.
Having failed to adequately replace Toni Kroos on his retirement 12 months ago, Madrid was determined not to make the same mistake after Luka Modric’s announcement yesterday that he will leave the club after the club World Cup.
According to rumors, Fernandez is on the restricted list of the new boss of Madrid Xabi Alonso, but Maresca is not interested in selling a player that Chelsea invested 107 million pounds Sterling in January 2023.
When asked if he would be at Stamford Bridge next season, Maresca said: “Yes.
“Enzo is very important to us. He is one of our captains, he is one of the leaders. This season has been very good and it can be even better next season, from the first day. [I’ve] Nothing to say about speculation, his accent is put on us and it is the most important thing. »»
The last day. 🔜 pic.twitter.com/ewnmraog6t
– Chelsea FC (@Chelseafc) May 22, 2025
Qualification of the Champions League and European trophy to be won this week
Sunday’s match at Nottingham Forest is launching an important week for Chelsea.
They head to City Ground, seeking to obtain a finish among the first five and a place in the Champions League next season before flying to Poland to face Real Betis in the conference league final in Wroclaw on Wednesday evening.
Maresca insists that his goal is only on the weekend match and not on the European centerpiece, although he admitted that he will have to fully use his team through the two games.
“The next one is the most important, then after that, we can focus on Wednesday’s match,” he added. “I said that the other day, we don’t have enough time to recover energy, so we must certainly turn and change things. We have to make changes.”
Improvement of the required road
A draw in the seventh place forest can be sufficient for Chelsea to qualify for the Champions League, but that would leave them according to the results elsewhere.
A victory would ensure that the Chelsea record on the road this season was not great with only seven victories of 18 Premier League games.
Maresca said, “It’s something for sure, during the short break, we have to analyze. I also said that several times I like to analyze the game by play. Sometimes we have played and we do not deserve to lose or even draw. But it is certain that we fight, there is a reason why and we will use the break to understand the reason.
“On the other side, at home, we won almost all the matches. So there is also a good part.”
Nicolas Jackson is suspended, but Chelsea will be available on Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu.
