Chelsea's £120m Fernandez Ultimatum: City Has Until Friday

West London's ultimatum? It's all about City's suddenly heightened interest. That came right after Barcelona started sniffing around Rodri. Chelsea wants this done. And quickly.

Part of it, you see, is the Enzo Maresca fiasco. He bolted mid-season. New Year's Day, Chelsea announced his exit. The club, quite rightly, wants to skip another prolonged drama. They're keen to avoid a repeat.

Remember Fernandez? He signed a fat six-year deal when Chelsea snagged him from Benfica. That was the 2023 winter window, about £107m. Now they're slapping a £120m price tag on him. That's a tidy £13m bump.

Funny, isn't it? This is the same guy who got benched in April. Why? He'd expressed interest in moving to Madrid. Said sorry later, but still. The club isn't letting him dictate terms anymore.

Barcelona's getting serious about Rodri. They're reportedly ready to pump their bid up to between £50m and £60m. That's the real pressure point for City. It might just force their hand before Chelsea's September 1 deadline bites. Hard.

Don't forget, City's also chatting with Lille about Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi. And they've already bagged Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for a cool £116m. Money's clearly not an issue for them. They have options. But Chelsea's making *this* option expensive.

Oh, and relations between Chelsea and City? Still icy. That £17m City coughed up to appoint Maresca? Nobody's forgotten. Not at Stamford Bridge, anyway.