{"id":621763,"date":"2023-01-31T12:46:19","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T17:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=621763"},"modified":"2023-01-31T12:57:53","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T17:57:53","slug":"heightened-optimism-chelsea-enzo-fernandez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/01\/31\/heightened-optimism-chelsea-enzo-fernandez\/","title":{"rendered":"David Ornstein: There&#8217;s Now &#8216;Heightened Optimism&#8217; as Chelsea Look to Sign Star Who Could Solve Their Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/01\/31\/chelsea-psg-discussions-hakim-ziyech\/\" target=\"_self\">Chelsea<\/a> have had a breakthrough in their pursuit of Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez, with <a href=\"https:\/\/theathletic.com\/4142754\/2023\/01\/31\/chelsea-transfer-enzo-fernandez\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Ornstein and The Athletic<\/a> reporting that the Argentinian now has permission to undergo a medical. The Blues have pursued Fernandez throughout January with the hope that a marquee signing like this one could give their season the boost it so desperately needs, and the deal has reached a crucial stage on deadline day.<\/p>\n<h2>Benfica Allow Enzo Fernandez To Undergo Medical<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 Sources in Portugal tell <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheAthleticFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TheAthleticFC<\/a> there\u2019s now heightened optimism agreement can be struck for Enzo Fernandez to join Chelsea. Benfica have granted permission to do medical in Portugal in case deal struck <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheAthleticFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TheAthleticFC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#CFC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SLBenfica?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#SLBenfica<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DeadlineDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#DeadlineDay<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eoT7TtnwUb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/eoT7TtnwUb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/David_Ornstein\/status\/1620462366248026112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 31, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Ornstein: &#8216;Heightened Optimism&#8217; Around Enzo Fernandez Deal<\/h3>\n<p>The Athletic and David Ornstein reported this afternoon that there was greater optimism around Chelsea and Benfica striking an agreement for the transfer of Enzo Fernandez. Because of this, the Portuguese club will now allow the player to undergo a medical.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/01\/31\/marcel-sabitzer-manchester-united-bayern-munich\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>\u2018Pole Position\u2019 \u2013 Manchester United\u2019s \u2018Intense and Aggressive\u2019 Signing To Transform Squad is \u2018Already At The Airport\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to sources in Portugal, who asked not to be named because of their proximity to the situation, there is now heightened optimism that an agreement can be reached between Chelsea and Benfica,\u201d Ornstein reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a result, Benfica have agreed to let Fernandez undergo a medical in Portugal for the event of a deal going through.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Payment Structure a Sticking Point<\/h3>\n<p>Chelsea have pursued Enzo Fernandez for most of the January transfer window after the 22-year-old had an impressive World Cup campaign with Argentina.<\/p>\n<p>Initial talks were unsuccessful, with Fabrizio Romano <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fabrizioromano\/status\/1610754978909491203?s=46&amp;t=PAns2gTkTDPt7hxIsNTYPw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reporting<\/a> that the club&#8217;s first offer of \u00a375 million was far below Benfica\u2019s asking price. And although the Blues are now prepared to meet the \u00a3105 million release clause in Fernandez\u2019s contract, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/football\/2023\/01\/30\/chelsea-transfer-news-blues-offer-105m-enzo-fernandez\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Matt Law and The Telegraph<\/a> have reported that they want to split it over six payments.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2023\/01\/31\/leicester-city-medical-ongoing-harry-souttar\/\" target=\"_self\">\u2018Medicals Ongoing\u2019: Leicester City Closing in on \u00a315 Million Defender as Chaotic Deadline Day Continues<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SkySportsNews\/status\/1620459985640497154\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sky Sports News<\/a> has reported that Benfica either want the money paid in one go or with fewer payments before sanctioning a transfer. However, Chelsea are reluctant to agree to that.<\/p>\n<h3>Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali Pushing for Enzo Fernandez<\/h3>\n<p>Despite the sticking point, Ben Jacobs from CBS Sports has reported that Chelsea\u2019s owners, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, are not giving up in their pursuit of Enzo Fernandez.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll I can add on Enzo Fernandez at this point is Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have been pushing really hard,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JacobsBen\/status\/1620463962323312642\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jacobs tweeted<\/a>. \u201cThey simply haven&#8217;t taken no for an answer, especially since Monday night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"GAn_nlE1Q41j6zigb_M1uQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1452152998\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'GAn_nlE1Q41j6zigb_M1uQ',sig:'D6Gz_RtIdFbSRLoyPziOUqsvWpEl5M3ua4OYGg-5BQk=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1452152998',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chelsea have had a breakthrough in their pursuit of Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez, with David Ornstein and The Athletic reporting that the Argentinian now has permission to undergo a medical. The Blues have pursued Fernandez throughout January with the hope that a marquee signing like this one could give their season the boost it so [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4374,"featured_media":621771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,3,7188],"tags":[687,8611,9273],"class_list":["post-621763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-premier-league","category-rumours","tag-benfica","tag-chelsea-transfer-rumours","tag-enzo-fernandez"],"modified_by":"Joseph Howes, Site Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4374"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}