Benfica boss makes ‘much bigger’ statement on future without Fernandez after record Chelsea move | OneFootball

Benfica manager Roger Schmidt has declared the club are “much bigger” than one player, and they’ve shown they’ll be fine without Enzo Fernandez.

The January transfer window was dominated with reports regarding the future of Fernandez. Due to his role in Argentina’s World Cup triumph, he was a man in high demand.

Chelsea soon established themselves as the frontrunners in that race. It was no surprise that the Blues were entertaining paying a British record transfer fee after having already spent north of £175million in January alone.

However, questions over whether they would actually part with the record fee for a 22-year-old with just over 100 senior appearances in his career so far emerged. Is it value for money?

They seemed to have decided against paying that fee at one point and negotiations broke down. However, on deadline day, Chelsea snapped and decided they’d pay it, completing the transfer right at the close of play.

Throughout the whole process, Benfica manager Schmidt has voiced his opinions on the dealings. He referred to Chelsea as “disrespectful” and essentially said they’d unsettled Fernandez earlier in January.

Since the transfer went through on deadline day, Schmidt has had more to say on the matter.

“It’s always difficult to lose a good player in the winter market. But today we showed that we are a good team without him, that we are capable of playing good football without him, that the players are focused on getting the most points, to be champions,” he said in a press conference posted by Football Daily.

“Benfica is much bigger than a player. We just need players who are happy to play for Benfica, who are passionate.

“We had a player who wanted to leave and a club willing to pay the clause, we couldn’t do anything. We accepted and looked ahead.”

Indeed, while he will no doubt be upset by losing one of his most important assets, it seems the Benfica manager is happy to have shipped a player out that didn’t want to play for his side.

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