Chelsea face imminent Enzo Fernandez transfer dilemma as surprise escape route open

Chelsea's is reportedly on the radar of two European heavyweights after falling out of favour in the Blues' starting eleven. The 23-year-old midfielder, who made a record-breaking £105million move from Benfica to Chelsea in January 2023, has failed to impress new boss , who seems to favour the 'physicality' of and .

This was evident in Sunday's 1-1 draw against Manchester United, where Fernandez only saw 19 minutes of second-half action as a substitute. Earlier in the week, the World Cup winner played the full match as were .

Amid these challenges, there are whispers that the former River Plate prodigy might be looking for a new club in the upcoming January transfer window. If Chelsea decide to cut their losses, they won't be lacking in potential buyers.

According to , via , both La Liga frontrunners Barcelona and Serie A champions Inter Milan are keeping tabs on Fernandez's situation. While neither Champions League side is expected to match the hefty sum Chelsea shelled out less than two years ago, they could propose loan deals.

It's also reported that Fernandez's main goal is to reclaim his spot in Chelsea's first team. But he's also said not to be keen on spending months warming the bench.

When quizzed about Fernandez's situation ahead of the clash with United, Maresca responded bluntly: "They are human beings and if you pay £100m that is not my problem," he said. "You want to buy me then you pay that money.

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"That does not mean that every game you have to be the best. At the end of the day they are football players and they cannot always be at the top level.

"At this moment Enzo is not playing but there is no problem with Enzo. The noise about Enzo is because clubs pay so much money for them, people expect they will always be the best. That is not so. The only reason he is not playing is just because the physicality I prefer is from Caicedo and Romeo Lavia."

Fernandez is hoping to make the starting line-up for Thursday's home match against Armenian side Noah in the Conference League. He played 71 minutes of the previous game in the competition, wearing the captain's armband for the 4-1 win over Panathinaikos.