Chelsea have banned Enzo Fernandez for two matches, ruling him out of next weekend’s Premier League game against Manchester City.
With Arsenal hoping every side that faces Manchester City puts in as much effort as they do when facing the Gunners, Chelsea have suspended Enzo Fernandez for two games, meaning he will miss the match against Pep Guardiola’s side next weekend.
The midfielder has been banned by his own club after, in Liam Rosenior’s words, “crossing the line” with comments made about his future during the international break.
That means he will miss Chelsea’s FA Cup quarter-final against Port Vale on Saturday and, more significantly from Arsenal’s perspective, the league meeting with City at Stamford Bridge. He will then return for their league game against Manchester United.
The punishment follows public remarks that Chelsea have clearly decided could not pass without a response.
During the international break, some have claimed Fernandez seemed to invite interest from Real Madrid when he said: “I really like Madrid – it’s similar to Buenos Aires.” His agent, however, claims he was merely responding to a question about which European city he would like to live in “one day”.
Rosenior’s view was that the issue was less about one isolated comment than about standards inside the club. “I think for Enzo, it’s disappointing to speak in that way,” he said. “In terms of him as a character, as a person, I’ve got no bad words to say about him.
“But I think a line was crossed in terms of our culture and what we want to build. So we had to make a sanction and that was a decision we’ve made. The door is not closed on Enzo. That’s very important. It’s a sanction. You have to protect that culture. I think in terms of that, the line was crossed in the international break.”
Fernandez had also previously questioned whether he would remain with Chelsea this summer.
The noise around Fernandez has only grown with the intervention of his agent, Javier Pastore, who described the punishment as excessive. “The punishment is completely unfair – banning the player for two matches, which moreover are also absolutely crucial for Chelsea because qualification for the Champions League is at stake and he is one of the team’s most important players,” he told The Athletic.
What makes the episode look even worse is the contrast with the response to Fernandez’s earlier racist, homophobic and transphobic chant controversy while on Argentina duty.
Chelsea opened internal disciplinary proceedings and condemned the language as “entirely unacceptable”, while Fernandez apologised publicly, saying “the song includes highly offensive language and there is absolutely no excuse for these words” and insisting the video did not reflect his beliefs or character.
Yet, despite the seriousness of that incident, he was not suspended for a single minute of club football.