Enzo Fernandez sends message to Chelsea over Joao Felix future
Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez has urged the club to keep Joao Felix on a permanent deal when his initial loan from Atletico Madrid expires in the summer.
Fernandez and Felix were both new arrival at Chelsea during the January transfer window, with the former completing a club record £107m from Benfica and the Blues paying around £9m for their temporary six-month deal with the latter.
The pair have never crossed paths before, although they do share some common history owing to Felix also making his name at Benfica. But Felix, albeit only a year older than Fernandez, has direct experience of what the midfielder is going through after moving for €126m earlier in his career.
They therefore seem to have already hit it off and Fernandez is keen for it to continue.
“He called me when I got here to ask if he could be any help,” Fernandez has told The Guardian.
“When you get on with someone it helps on the field. He’s a great player, isn’t he? Let’s hope that Chelsea can do all they can to keep hold of him.”
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Fernandez has also urged the Chelsea fans who booed the team following last weekend’s shock defeat to bottom club Southampton to continue to ‘trust’ the players and staff.
“My message to the fans would be never forget that we are representing you,” he said.
“Trust us. Trust the players, trust the backroom staff, trust the manager. Because we are all moving in the same direction. It is a restructuring of the club. We are going to be trying to win games, starting on Sunday. Then we can start to turn things around.”
Chelsea face the tricky trip across London against Tottenham on Sunday, coming into this with only two wins from their last 14 games in all competitions. The Blues haven’t won at all since 15 January and have scored just a single goal in the five games since then.