Javier Pastore, the former Argentina international and now Enzo Fernandez’s agent, has confirmed that he will try to broker a move for his compatriot if Chelsea do not offer him the deal he wants. His statements follow sanctions from Chelsea for his comments during the week.
Fernandez has four separate times cast doubt on his long-term future at Chelsea in the past three weeks, despite having a contract until 2032. With Real Madrid looking for a midfielder, Fernandez has twice announced that he would like to stay in the Spanish capital. Pastor doesn’t seem to understand why his comments made such waves, telling The Athletic that the two-game ban was ‘wrong.’
“Enzo did not understand the situation. When the coach told him, he accepted it because he is a high-class person who is always fully committed wherever he is and respects the decisions, but we do not understand the punishment because he does not mention any club or say that he wants to leave Chelsea, far from it; he only talks about Madrid, the city, because he was asked which European city he would like to live in, he said because Madrid is like Air, Air . and because it makes sense – it is just natural for a person from Argentina to say that – also because of the culture, the climate… But he never said he wanted to leave Chelsea or London.”
“I’ll say it again: he didn’t say he wanted to leave or that he’d rather stay in Madrid than London. He doesn’t despise anyone.”
“The punishment is absolutely wrong – banning the player for two games, which is very important for Chelsea because it is at risk of qualifying for the Champions League and he is one of the most important players in the team.”
‘We will explore other options if there is no agreement’
Pastor then revealed that contract negotiations between Fernandez and Chelsea had recently broken down. Anyway
“There have been talks about renewing his contract, yes, we started discussing it in December or January, but we could not reach an agreement. Since Enzo’s contract has six years left to expire, we decided not to renew it because the terms were not right for us or for the player, as Enzo is able to do today, he deserves more than what he is currently earning.
We haven’t reached an agreement yet, this may upset the team as he is a very important player, but these are things that must be controlled.”
The two sides were said to have decided to postpone new talks until after the World Cup, but Pastor opened the door for them to leave.
“We don’t want to get into discussions about statistics, contracts and negotiations when there is no time.”
“Our strategy after the World Cup is to meet with Chelsea and, if there is no agreement, we will look at other options.”
‘There are many things we don’t see’
Pastor chose to comment on The Athletic’s Real Madrid reporter, Mario Cortegana, rather than their Chelsea reporter. Asked if Fernandez was happy at Stamford Bridge, Pastor said he was not.
“He is the backbone and leader of the team; it is natural that, from a sporting point of view, he is happy to be at Chelsea. He won big trophies last year and was respected by the Premier League and all the fans, and when a player does that on the pitch, of course he is happy where he is.”
“Then there are other things that influence decisions, whether it’s salary, respect, or the way things are handled… There are so many things that we don’t see at the moment – or at least I, as an agent, don’t see – that suggest that the club is not handling things well with him.”
Even though Fernandez has a strong denial about his comments, Pastor and his client seem to be the only ones who didn’t raise an eyebrow at Fernandez’s repeated praise in Madrid. If there was any doubt that Fernandez wanted to leave Chelsea, Pastor has now confirmed that he will be looking.
