Liam Rosenior makes Enzo Fernandez vice-captaincy decision after Chelsea ban

Enzo Fernandez will not be involved in Chelsea's next two matches after the club took the decision to punish the midfielder following his damning comments recently

Liam Rosenior has insisted he will not take the vice-captaincy away from Enzo Fernandez despite excluding the Chelsea midfielder from his squad for the next two matches.

Rosenior confirmed on Friday morning that Fernandez will not be involved against Port Vale and Manchester City in the Blues' next two matches after some of the 25-year-old's recent comments.

Fernandez refused to rule out a move away from Stamford Bridge in the aftermath of Chelsea's second-leg defeat to Paris Saint-Germain last month and then openly flirted with a switch to Real Madrid while on international duty with Argentina.

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The former Benfica midfielder, who cost Chelsea a then-record £107million in January 2023, has donned the captain's armband in recent matches due to Reece James' hamstring injury and Rosenior insisted he will not lose that status.

"Enzo is still part of the leadership group," explained the Chelsea head coach. "I've said before, this is a sanction for pretty much one week, where he will miss Man City. Then we will see after that.

"For me, I won't be stripping him of anything because he doesn't deserve that."

Rosenior added: "We had a really calm conversation. I explained the decision and why. I know it doesn't look like it right now, but Enzo and I have an unbelievable relationship.

"He understood the club's decision and my decision in that, and he also, I know, will respond really, really well and help us in the upcoming weeks."

Fernandez will continue to train with the first-team squad despite being omitted from playing in the next two games. Rosenior believes the Argentine still has a future at Chelsea despite the events of the last couple of weeks.

"Yes, for sure [Fernandez can come back from this] and that is the whole point and one of the things I want my players and staff to do is just ignore that noise. Noise is noise. There is a perception at the moment that is not reflecting reality.

"My record in the Premier League since I joined the club, we are fourth in the league. There is a noise around the football club that we are in a crisis, that I am out of my depth, that I talk nonsense, I know all of the noise. It doesn't affect what is inside of here and that is what the players need to know as well."

football.london understands, despite his recent comments, Chelsea do not want to sell Fernandez in the upcoming summer transfer window. However, there is a feeling that the Argentina international no longer has 'untouchable' status at Stamford Bridge.

Rosenior is adamant there will not be a domino effect following Fernandez and Marc Cucurella's damning recent comments and the Chelsea head coach cryptically hinted there could be multiple contract extensions in the coming weeks.

"At the moment, you'll see in the coming weeks, there will be things that happen around this football club that will actually speak louder than words, and you'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks in terms of the commitment of the players to this project."

Asked whether he meant 'commitment' on the pitch, or if he was referencing players signing new contracts, Rosenior said: "Both."

Rosenior then answered this when asked if he was expecting extensions: "You'll see."