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Real Madrid could ‘tempt’ Chelsea to sell £84m star with a swap for 24-year-old midfielder
Real Madrid are reportedly keen on Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez who has fallen out of favour with Enzo Maresca in recent weeks, with Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo starting in the heart of midfield.
Fichajes via TeamTalk are suggesting that Madrid would be willing to pay £84 million for Fernandez to try and convince the Blues to sell the midfielder who they signed for £102m from Benfica in January 2023.
Chelsea may be happy selling the 23-year-old due to his lesser game time since Enzo Maresca joined as manager in the summer. However, Real Madrid have another offer up their sleeve to tempt Chelsea to let the midfielder head to the Bernabeu.
The report also suggests that Real Madrid could be prepared to offer French international Aurelien Tchouameni as part of the deal, as he is a player that Chelsea had previously shown interest in.
Tchouameni has been featuring for Madrid in midfield making appearances in ten of their eleven La Liga games so far this season. He moved to the Bernabeu in 2022 for £67m from Monaco; he has made 102 appearances for the Galacticos.
Due to the underwhelming performances of Fernandez so far this season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Chelsea allowing him to leave for a player that they previously held interest in.
Fernandez is Real Madrid’s second choice behind Premier League star
Despite their keenness on Fernandez, the Chelsea man isn’t Real Madrid’s first-choice midfielder that they would like to sign. The report by Fichajes suggests their ultimate goal is signing Rodri from Man City.
Madrid would also aim to complete a swap deal with City for Tchouameni who has fallen out of favour with Carlo Ancelotti due to inconsistent form for Madrid in recent weeks.
However, it seems more unlikely that City would be prepared to sell the Ballon d’Or winner to Champions League rivals Real Madrid. Chelsea would be more likely to sell Fernandez seeing as he hasn’t been starting at Stamford Bridge but they could still get a hefty transfer fee for the 23-year-old.
Chelsea’s London rivals were linked to Tchouameni
Following Arsenal’s signing of Mikel Merino for £27.4m, there was some surprise to see that the Gunners were linked to Tchouameni in September as a signing for next summer. However, Mikel Arteta’s side were linked alongside Liverpool to land Tchouameni.
The 24-year-old midfielder is under contract at Real Madrid until June 2028, but if Madrid are now more keen on letting him go in favour of a new midfielder such as Enzo Fernandez or Rodri – Tchouameni could make a move next summer to the Premier League.
