Maresca Downplays Enzo Fernandez Transfer Amid Deadline
Enzo Maresca has poured cold water on talk of late transfer drama at Manchester City, insisting he does not expect any business to be done on Friday despite the looming deadline to move for Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez.
City have been heavily linked with the Argentina international, but time is almost up.
Chelsea have set a firm cut-off of 5pm BST on Friday, August 14, for bids to land on their desk, with the Blues holding out for £120million. Miss that window and the door closes.
Maresca, preparing his side for the Community Shield clash with Arsenal this weekend, was pressed on whether fans should brace for a reunion with Fernandez before the deadline passed.
“Not today, to be honest. I don't think we're going to do something today,” the Italian said in his Friday morning pre-match press conference.
He then quickly moved to shut down the speculation.
“In this moment, again, I have to give you the same answer since day one. It will always be the same. It's a player from another club, I don't think it's correct to talk about him.
“At the same time, I don't think it's correct for other clubs to speak about our players. That's why I'm not going to say anything about players that aren't with us.”
So while the Fernandez clock ticks loudly at Stamford Bridge, it remains quiet at the Etihad.
The only significant movement Maresca does expect is outgoing.
One deal close to completion is Tijjani Reijnders’ switch to Saudi Pro League side Al Qadsiah, after a £51.2m agreement was reached on Thursday. That transfer now looks a matter of timing rather than negotiation.
“Tij is not officially done, but we'll see in the next hour,” Maresca revealed. “I already spoke with him a few times in pre-season, then we will see if he is going to leave or if he is going to stay.
“In the way he was playing in the pre-season games, I was quite happy with his performance overall. I know Tij from Italy, from Milan when he was there so I know him quite well.
I know there he was playing in a different position, he likes to play a little more deep rather than high up the pitch, but again in the pre-season he was good, then we'll see what happens and we'll decide.”
With Chelsea standing firm on Fernandez and City’s manager refusing to blink, the focus now turns to whether the champions ride into the new season with what they have — or whether this quiet deadline day masks a bigger midfield move still to come later in the window.
