Alonso wants to keep Enzo Fernandez at Chelsea amid exit talk

Xabi Alonso used his first public remarks as Chelsea manager at Stamford Bridge to make Enzo Fernandez a central part of the club’s next phase, saying he wants the Argentina midfielder to stay. Chelsea have no appetite to sell their record signing this summer, even as Fernandez has been linked with an exit and the club has set a £120 million asking price.

The stance is a sharp signal about where Chelsea see their hierarchy under Alonso. Fernandez cost £106.8 million when Chelsea completed his move from Benfica in February 2023, a British-record fee at the time, and he signed an eight-and-a-half-year contract that runs to 2031/32. His estimated gross salary, listed by Capology and Spotrac, is about £180,000 a week, a level that underlines how much of Chelsea’s long-term spending has already been tied to him.

That commitment matters because Chelsea are coming off a 10th-place Premier League finish, a result that has left the club needing stability as much as new ideas. Keeping Fernandez would tell the dressing room that Alonso intends to build around proven, expensive talent rather than treat every summer as a full reset. It would also show that Chelsea still believe their biggest fees should buy pillars, not just prospects.

Fernandez’s profile gives the decision extra weight. He arrived at Stamford Bridge after helping Argentina win the 2022 World Cup, and he was part of Chelsea’s FIFA Club World Cup-winning squad in 2025. He also scored in Chelsea’s 2-0 opening win over Los Angeles FC at that tournament, a reminder that his output has already shaped one of the club’s recent trophies. Transfermarkt lists him as 25 years old and values him at around €90 million, keeping him in the bracket of players Chelsea would struggle to replace cleanly.

The exit talk has also carried a European edge, with Fernandez linked to Real Madrid, described in reports as his dream destination, although the Spanish club has publicly denied interest. For Alonso, the first big test of the rebuild is already in focus: whether Chelsea’s most expensive midfielder is meant to be sold into a new cycle or kept at the center of it.