Chelsea's transfer strategy will be tested by Enzo Fernandez - this could get messy

After Liam Rosenior confirmed Enzo Fernandez will be excluded from Chelsea's next two matches, the mechanics of the Blues' transfer strategy may be shaken to the rafters

In his heyday, Javier Pastore terrorised Chelsea's defence. Instead of beating Petr Cech on his near post in the Champions League anymore, the ex-Paris Saint-Germain midfielder is throwing verbal hand grenades into the Footballsphere.

Liam Rosenior has become the focus of Pastore's ire. The Argentine slated the punishment handed to Enzo Fernandez - his client - and took a pot shot at the Chelsea board. "Completely unfair" was his verdict on the two-match exclusion Rosenior imposed on the Argentine after he said he dreams of one day living in Madrid, just as Real Madrid's transfer radar looms over Stamford Bridge like Sauron. He also hit out at Chelsea's negotiators, claiming their most recent contract offer to the ex-Benfica man was "not realistic".

football.london understands Chelsea do not want to sell the £107million, even if the so-called 'untouchable' tag, tethered to Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer, is no longer attached to the Argentine. Pastore has defended Fernandez, insisting the World Cup winner made it clear he has not had talks with Los Blancos and that wanting to one day live in Madrid does not mean he is fluttering his eyes at Alvaro Arbeloa's side.

The agent, as he is now, is not necessarily wrong, but Chelsea and Rosenior are right to feel aggrieved by these, frankly, naive comments. Nobody has come out of this situation looking well.

Rosenior would not have wanted to exclude the midfielder from two crucial matches, especially off the back of a run of four consecutive defeats, two goals scored and 12 conceded. However, this saga will be the perfect acid test of the so-called Chelsea transfer project.

When Fernandez was signed in January 2023, he was immediately handed an eight-and-a-half year contract, which was extended by a year only three months later, reducing the yearly ammortised transfer fee to around £11.25m per year. The massive contract is good for the books, but it will be Chelsea's powerplay, should Real return.

Unlike their poaching of Antonio Rudiger, there is no Bosman deal for Real to exploit. Chelsea will be able to command whatever transfer fee they like and unless Fernandez goes nuclear like Alexander Isak, the Blues will have the upper hand.

A transfer stand off with Real is a worthy opponent for Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart's strategy. Pastore may have tested the waters by saying Chelsea "weren't very realistic" during talks before the turn of the year before stating Fernandez "deserves much more than he’s currently earning".

Chelsea operate with an incentivised wage structure which seeks to avoid paying huge wages like the £325,000 per-week Raheem Sterling was reportedly on. Given Pastore's firm rebuke, he may be looking to tackle this.

That is where Real will be waiting, if they decide Fernandez is their man. Stewart and Winstanley have made many big sales, including Conor Gallagher and Noni Madueke, but the Spanish heavyweights have not knocked on their door yet.

There is no transfer saga like a Real saga and they will make Stamford Bridge shake from the foundations. Pastore will air any transfer laundry out in the open, just as he so publicly eviscerated the post-Christmas negotiations and suggested they may have motivated this suspension.

"We haven’t reached an agreement and it may be that this annoyed the club, given that he is a hugely important player, but these are things that have to be managed," Pastore added: "I look at the sporting and financial aspects of the player’s situation, and I didn’t see that renewal coming to fruition because they weren’t very realistic about Enzo’s current situation.

"We felt that rather than renewing on terms that wouldn’t make the player happy, it was better to leave things as they are and focus on playing and performing well, as they have important objectives until May: qualifying for the Champions League. We decided to put that out of our minds and focus 100 per cent on the crucial fixtures with Chelsea and also the World Cup with Argentina, which will demand a great amount of concentration.

"We don’t want to get into discussions about figures, contracts and negotiations when the timing wasn’t right. Our plan after the World Cup is to meet with Chelsea again and, if there is no agreement, to explore other options."

The post-World Cup meeting will be the biggest negotiation this ownership has endured - they cannot afford to be beaten lightly, just as Cech was when the ball left Pastore's feet all those years ago.