Benfica are attempting to convince Enzo Fernandez to stay until the end of the season following Chelsea’s club-record offer for the midfielder, according to reports.
The 21-year-old is in high demand off the back of Argentina’s World Cup win in Qatar with Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Real Madrid all interested in a deal.
Liverpool and Manchester United have both held advanced talks with Benfica and Fernandez’s representative this month, but Chelsea are appearing to blow their Premier League rivals out of the water with a huge bid.
Chelsea are keen to strengthen their midfield options as both Jorginho and N’Golo Kante could leave Stamford Bridge on a free transfer when their contracts expire at the end of the season.
The Daily Record claims that Chelsea have proposed an offer in excess of €127 million (£113m) for Fernandez, which tops the fee the Portuguese club received for Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid in 2019.
But according to Record, Benfica president Rui Costa has now spoken to Fernandez and doesn’t want the midfielder to leave despite Chelsea’s significant offer.
The report claims that Costa is trying to persuade Fernandez to stay at Benfica until next summer.
Meanwhile, O Jogo report that Benfica are also preparing for Fernandez’s departure in the January transfer window and are already lining up a replacement for the Argentina international.
Racing Club’s 20-year-old midfielder Carlos Alcaraz and Velez Sarsfield’s 19-year-old defensive midfielder Maximo Perrone are both on Benfica’s shortlist.
Chelsea defender Reece James ‘expected to miss up to four weeks’
Chelsea defender Reece James is reportedly expected to miss up to a month with a recurrence of a knee injury.
The right-back was forced to miss the World Cup after initially sustaining an injury in a Champions League fixture in October.
Although the 23-year-old was frustrated to miss representing England in Qatar, he was able to remain patient with his recovery in a bid to return to action against Bournemouth on Tuesday evening.
James achieved that target, impressing during a dominant first-half performance from the Blues, but the academy graduate was forced to be withdrawn early in the second half.
While James was able to walk off the pitch unaided, James was visibly disappointed with his latest fitness setback as he made his way down the tunnel.
After the game, head coach Graham Potter admitted that he would ‘keep his fingers crossed’ that the injury was less severe than feared and anticipated by some.
However, according to The Athletic, James is currently in line to return to action before the end of January.
The report says that James underwent a scan on the injury on Wednesday morning where it was subsequently revealed that he would be missing for three to four weeks.
In a post on social media later in the day, James revealed his frustration without revealing any details regarding his recovery time.
As it stands, James is in line to miss six matches for Chelsea, three of which are against Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League and EFL Cup.
Chelsea also meet Nottingham Forest on New Year’s Day and have two two London derbies with Fulham and Crystal Palace respectively.
Cesar Azpilicueta is currently in line to deputise for James at right-back or right wing-back, but Chelsea have also been linked with additions during the January transfer window.
The Premier League giants are allegedly giving consideration to making a formal approach for Celtic’s Josip Juranovic, who is not short of admirers after his performances for Croatia during the World Cup.
SOURCE: metro.co.uk, sportsmole.co.uk
