Enzo Fernandez and an absurd transfer saga that surely could have been concluded months ago

Quite a lot happened between the first week of April and about 5pm on transfer deadline day.

Spain became world champions. Ronaldinho drove Madonna onto the field at half-time of the World Cup final in a weird little buggy thing. Gianni Infantino went from immovable king of football to touring the world, begging people for support. Crystal Palace won a European trophy. Nine current Premier League teams changed managers. Tottenham Hotspur spent £350million ($473m) and still don’t have a reliable goalkeeper or centre-forward.

But one thing that didn’t happen in that time, arguably more inevitable than all of the above, was Enzo Fernandez moving from Chelsea to Manchester City.

On April 3, Fernandez was dropped/suspended from two Chelsea games by then-manager Liam Rosenior after the midfielder “crossed the line” with comments regarding his future. At the time, the most likely destination was Real Madrid, but Manchester City were soon lurking in the background, having lined up noted Fernandez fan Enzo Maresca as Pep Guardiola’s successor.

The dropping/suspension was the beginning of the end, or at least the most public manifestation of the beginning of the end. At that point, Chelsea might have decided Fernandez was more trouble than he was worth, that it was time to sell a player who was clearly a valuable member of their team, but by no means an irreplaceable one. And a player who, with a bit of imagination and enough time, they could have replaced and made a tidy profit on, too.

And yet it took them until six hours before the window shut to finally agree a deal to sell Fernandez to City. The process of trying to replace him was ongoing, but by that stage it was too late: they either had to sell Fernandez and leave themselves light until January, or keep a player who had alienated the club. The final fee of £125million was agreed upon just before 5pm on Tuesday.

Chelsea might argue that loads of deals happen late in the window. But the point about this one is that it could have happened so much earlier, which would have saved them from the slapstick ending to the summer which has left them looking ridiculous and with holes in their squad.

It has been an absurd saga full of pointless posturing, failed negotiation stunts and a huge amount of wasted time.

After the incident in April, Fernandez went to the World Cup with his future uncertain. He played for an Argentina side who kept digging themselves out of trouble, and he scored the equaliser against England in the semi-final and then got himself sent off in ridiculous fashion in the final. Perhaps that should have been a red flag.

Halfway through the tournament, Madrid felt the need to issue a comunicado oficial, declaring they had no intention of signing Fernandez. When Real Madrid come out of a saga looking the most sensible and dignified, it should probably give the other participants a moment’s pause.

There followed a few weeks of dancing around the topic, before Rodri went to Barcelona and City had a more pressing need for a senior midfielder. Fernandez and Rodri are very different players, but Maresca — who, again, had been lined up as their new manager months before he was actually appointed — loves him and they needed a touch more authority and experience to go alongside other recruits Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi.

Chelsea then imposed what turned out to be a false and ultimately quite pompous deadline. Presumably in an attempt to hurry City along, they said Fernandez was available for £120m but only until August 14.

It didn’t work — the deadline came and went. In a world where clubs must not be seen to be dictated to, especially by a rival, City were never going to play this particular ball. Then, 18 days and more posturing later, the final fee was agreed upon. Chelsea got an extra £5m, but when the dust has settled and they collectively look themselves in the eye, will they really think that money was worth it, when it essentially cost them the chance to sign a suitable replacement?

Their two main targets to replace Fernandez, coming into the final days of the window, were Roma’s Manu Kone and Monaco’s Lamine Camara. Roma wouldn’t sanction the sale of Kone at the last minute, but no matter, because a couple of hours before the deadline, they agreed a fee for Camara.

However, as the clock ticked past 11pm, the Camara deal was suddenly off. Chelsea could quite reasonably claim to be furious that the French club had reneged on an agreement, but it’s tough to have any real sympathy: when you leave things to the last minute, you can’t pivot when the unexpected happens.

They might try to style it out and pretend they are perfectly happy with their remaining options, but they have only one reliable, proven, top-class centre-midfielder in Moises Caicedo. Their other options are Romeo Lavia (talented but the 22-year-old has barely been able to stay fit), Valentin Barco (limited experience at 22, especially as a midfielder), Jordan Henderson (36, signed for his character as opposed to playing ability) and a selection of makeshift options, the best of which is probably Reece James who a) might be better served as a defender and b) also struggles with fitness.

City come away from the whole thing in better shape, having got the man they wanted (even if questions remain about his suitability), but even then you’re left with a sense of annoyance that it could all have been sorted much, much earlier, if only they had ignored how things looked and got the whole thing done.

It’s just been a deeply strange saga from start to finish. Not least because Chelsea are making a £20m profit on a player they wildly overpaid for (on the basis of his career and achievements at the time) three years ago, and who in the intervening years has often been very good but not good enough to consistently justify that initial fee, and occasionally been a liability. Oh, and there was only one bidder for his services.

In some respects, they have done well to play on that bidder’s desperation. City had to replace Rodri, as a character as much as a footballer, and depending on how generously you interpret their intentions, had either backed themselves into a corner where he was their only option, or they just held firm and persisted with the idea that if they couldn’t get a replacement of commensurate quality, then they would stick with what they had. In the end, after some negotiation, they essentially paid what Chelsea were asking for in the first place.

All of which makes, from an observer’s viewpoint at least, the whole thing feel like a complete waste of time. We sit here, at the end of the window, with a situation that could have been resolved months ago, but was instead dragged out ridiculously and has ultimately cost Chelsea dearly.