There is zero suggestion that Enzo Fernandez could leave Chelsea this summer following the chanting of a racist and discriminatory song according to The Athletic.
Fernandez went live on Instagram on the Argentina team bus in the aftermath of their Copa America success and was chanting a racist and discriminatory song about French players with his team-mates.
The video went viral for all the wrong reasons with Wesley Fofana taking to social media to post a clip of the video with the words “football in 2024: uninhibited racism.”
No suggestion Fernandez will be sold this summer
The World Cup winner has since apologised both publicly and privately whilst Chelsea are conducting their own internal investigation, with FIFA and Uefa also investigating the video.
Chelsea have a large contingent of black French players and Fernandez has offended them through his actions with all six Frenchman unfollowing him on social media along with Romeo Lavia.
Despite some suggestions, The Athletic have reported there’s no indication that Chelsea will look to sell the midfielder this summer, who is regarded as a “foundational building block at Stamford Bridge.”
The report suggests he could be fined and will likely take part in educational diversity training rather than be sold or have his contract terminated.
Fernandez is currently on holiday following his Copa America exploits and was recently seen back at former club River Plate where he was paraded on the pitch.
When he does eventually link back up with Chelsea Enzo Maresca’s man management skills will be tested as the situation is likely to be very awkward as Fernandez tries to integrate himself back into the squad.
The 23-year-old arrived at Chelsea back in January 2023 for a then British record of £106m, and is seen as a key part of the club’s future, and has made 62 appearances to date, scoring seven goals and providing five assists.
Whether he’s sold or not is all down to him and whether he makes things right with his teammates. Issuing a public apology (in comic sans font?!?) and then jetting off on holiday was NOT the right way to handle this and it’s left an awful lot of time for storm clouds to settle in over Cobham. Stupid on Enzo’s part and bad for the squad. If he fully understood the weight of his transgression he’d have hopped the first flight back to London to meet with his teammates face to face. That he didn’t has left them (and, indeed, the world) to assume that he doesn’t really GET IT and that his public apology was merely perfunctory. In a world where players of African or mixed African ancestry still receive fairly regular abuse in some of Europe’s top leagues, it’s totally unacceptable to do what the Argentinian players did and act like a mere “sorry” is good enough.