Official: Chelsea sign Enzo Fernandez on an Eight and a Half Year Contract

[Ham]

1 hour ago, ROTG said:

You are right he could have gone Tenerife or anywhere apart from his home country especially after the statement made by his country men after his original post. 
 

The pile on is not silly unless you believe Enzo had done nothing wrong twice 

But his extended family don't live in Tenerife. They live in Argentina 

Stop the nonsense. 

The song was stupid.  He's an idiot for that. 

The shirt is nothing unless you want to be upset. 

[chara]

9 minutes ago, Ham said:

But his extended family don't live in Tenerife. They live in Argentina 

Stop the nonsense. 

The song was stupid.  He's an idiot for that. 

The shirt is nothing unless you want to be upset. 

Spot on Ham,,,,,the shirt is irelevant but the song is the issue.

IF Kante visited Chelsea and wore his old shirt to wave to the crowd would anyone anywhere give a Rat's A*** ?

Edited July 22 by chara

[ROTG]

54 minutes ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

I bet they were given they only paid £8m for him. 🤡🌎 💰 

Umm

Think it was £44 based on appearances etc. etc. etc  

hence Benfica’s reluctance to sell. 

[ROTG]

13 minutes ago, chara said:

Spot on Ham,,,,,the shirt is irelevant but the song is the issue.

IF Kante visited Chelsea and wore his old shirt to wave to the crowd would anyone anywhere give a Rat's A*** ?

Yeah right on. 
I assumed you wore your previous clubs or boy hood clubs shirts, at the Christmas or end of season parties you attended. ?

[ROTG]

25 minutes ago, Ham said:

But his extended family don't live in Tenerife. They live in Argentina 

Stop the nonsense. 

The song was stupid.  He's an idiot for that. 

The shirt is nothing unless you want to be upset. 

Why are you trying to defend the indefensible.
Clapping to a crowd whilst they sing a racist song is the norm along with wearing the top of the chanters. 
 

it’s no different to the NF clowns Ken Bates & RA managed to drive out of SB

[chara]

8 minutes ago, ROTG said:

Yeah right on. 
I assumed you wore your previous clubs or boy hood clubs shirts, at the Christmas or end of season parties you attended. ?

The parties I attended in younger days focused more on having a good time than embroiling everyone in frivolous bickering,,in the present case the affront to any decent person is the song and aftermath,,not an idiot's choice of outdoor wear.

You didn;t comment on the specific example I posted?

[Ham]

10 minutes ago, ROTG said:

Why are you trying to defend the indefensible.
Clapping to a crowd whilst they sing a racist song is the norm along with wearing the top of the chanters. 
 

it’s no different to the NF clowns Ken Bates & RA managed to drive out of SB

Good grief.

[ROTG]

2 minutes ago, chara said:

The parties I attended in younger days focused more on having a good time than embroiling everyone in frivolous bickering,,in the present case the affront to any decent person is the song and aftermath,,not an idiot's choice of outdoor wear.

You didn;t comment on the specific example I posted?

I very much doubt Kante would even think of disrespecting the club by wearing another teams shirt at SB  

[ROTG]

4 minutes ago, Ham said:

Good grief.

Really ???

next you be telling us TBSD is doing a fantastic job and it a media set up for Enzo. 

Edited July 22 by ROTG

[Chelsea_Matt]

32 minutes ago, ROTG said:

Umm

Think it was £44 based on appearances etc. etc. etc  

hence Benfica’s reluctance to sell. 

No it was €10m plus €8m in add-ons. 👀🫡🎯

[chara]

19 minutes ago, ROTG said:

I very much doubt Kante would even think of disrespecting the club by wearing another teams shirt at SB  

Respect your views and no one is defending the idiot,,my concern is that the shirt issue can/is being used to minimise or deflect from the real issues.

The shirt without the song is a nothing issue and probably wouldn't receive much, if any, media attention,

Again,,respect your pov but I'm done with the shirt question,

[ROTG]

50 minutes ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

No it was €10m plus €8m in add-ons. 👀🫡🎯

 

Argentine cost Benfica just £8.5 million plus £8 million in add-ons from boyhood club River Plate, who were wise to insert a 25 per cent sell-on clause plus bonuses during negotiations.

 

 

[ROTG]

38 minutes ago, chara said:

Respect your views and no one is defending the idiot,,my concern is that the shirt issue can/is being used to minimise or deflect from the real issues.

The shirt without the song is a nothing issue and probably wouldn't receive much, if any, media attention,

Again,,respect your pov but I'm done with the shirt question,

Ok 

lets leave the there. 

[Blue Kratos]

I'm starting to think that if he does go then our team may perform better as a unit if he was either sold, loaned or just fired.

We've been trying to shoehorn him in the side since he signed and I can't help but think that Caicedo could benefit the most by this.

[ShedMiddle]

7 minutes ago, Blue Kratos said:

I'm starting to think that if he does go then our team may perform better as a unit if he was either sold, loaned or just fired.

We've been trying to shoehorn him in the side since he signed and I can't help but think that Caicedo could benefit the most by this.

Not so sure myself. I think Enzo has the ability to become world class as does Caciedo.  It's a shame he's such a knob because I think it would've clicked this season. 

Has the club not been advising or been in touch with him. How did he ever think it was a good idea to turn up at his old club where they'd obviously be singing the song. Almost feels like it's all premeditated for not letting him play in the Olympics. 

Do these players not feel indebted to the club which has paid millions of pounds for their services?! The same applies with Lukaku!

[Blue Kratos]

1 hour ago, ShedMiddle said:

Not so sure myself. I think Enzo has the ability to become world class as does Caciedo.  It's a shame he's such a knob because I think it would've clicked this season. 

Has the club not been advising or been in touch with him. How did he ever think it was a good idea to turn up at his old club where they'd obviously be singing the song. Almost feels like it's all premeditated for not letting him play in the Olympics. 

Do these players not feel indebted to the club which has paid millions of pounds for their services?! The same applies with Lukaku!

Well we know a lot of these guys don't live in our reality like we do.

Lukaku is a prime example, one of the most deluded footballers on the planet.

As for Enzo this is going to be interesting how this plays out because I really don't think the term forgive and forget is going to be the case.

[xceleryx]

10 hours ago, martin1905 said:

Can't speak to anyone other than myself but if I was, let's say Fofana for arguments sake and had received an apology from Enzo by text message, phone call or even video call, I might be OK with that. To start. 

I would take into account he's across the other side of the world and it's not quite as easy as jumping in your car to go round and say your sorry.

Now considering these are multi millionaires, whilst I would appreciate he's away at the moment I think I'd expect him to maybe curtail his plans, get back as soon as possible and try to make amends. At that point I'd fully expect a proper apology, a very long debate and hope with some mediating and educating Enzo would want to learn and improve as a person we may be able to move on. 

What I would not expect to see is him, let's put the shirt thing aside as it's pretty irrelevant, being paraded around a stadium, all laughing and joking, smiling his little head off. That would wind me up, the fact that he's acting like nothing has happened and is being treated like a superstar. It would,  no doubt get my back up.  

It's very easy to say, well he's the other side of the world, he's entitled to a break  and I do get that but if I was being really cynical I'd argue he can't be that bothered about being there as by all accounts he was desperate to play in the Olympics so he can't be that bothered about his break, holiday, or even being back in Argentina as given the choice he'd be in France right now, oh the irony in that!!

Let's be brutally honest here, he's paid millions of pounds a year. To jump on a plane, do whatever you can to try and make it up to your teammate before going back on your holiday/break wouldn't be that inconvenient. It would have been the best thing he could have done and might have helped to build bridges. Doing nothing would have been bad, just disappearing for a couple of weeks would have been really poor, to be lauded by tens of thousands of racist scumbags would have been pretty shocking but to do that wearing the shirt those same racist fans are wearing , whilst they sing that song, if I'm Wesley Fofana I don't think I could ever forgive that.

I suppose this is where you and I differ. If I was in Fofana's shoes and had directly spoken to Enzo in private, whether that's been through text, calls or video chats, then I'd be more than satisfied with that being a starting point. I'd not expect him to drop everything he's doing, being aware he's just played and won an international tournament and is back in his home land. 

What I would absolutely expect though, is that once back, all parties sit down and have open dialogue to address, educate, and resolve the matter. 

As a player, and a teammate, I'd also be aware that Enzo wasn't the sole individual partaking. This was a team thing that included various others signing along to something that is accepted within their country, even if he was the one stupid enough to film and upload it to social media. 

But yeah, it'll be resolved one way or another. I guess we'll find out eventually what that looks like.

[Floyd25]

I’m just amazed by his lack of intelligence to be honest, he thinks it’s a good idea to parade himself around in a river plate shirt, smiling as the entire crowd sings about black Frenchmen sleeping with trans people….the man is really dense clearly. 

[martin1905]

7 hours ago, chara said:

Respect your views and no one is defending the idiot,,my concern is that the shirt issue can/is being used to minimise or deflect from the real issues.

The shirt without the song is a nothing issue and probably wouldn't receive much, if any, media attention,

Again,,respect your pov but I'm done with the shirt question,

The point is though mate that the shirt, which I think is pretty irrelevant was being worn at a stadium full of people signing the song and he's there waving and smiling.

If it had just been him putting on a shirt, he'd have received a bit of grief from some, mainly for the timing.

But to be paraded around a pitch where tens of thousands are signing the same song that started all this, whilst wearing the shirt, and be as happy as he was about the whole situation. 

That's the problem.

[Sciatika]

I suppose we might have another Mutu situation where we have paid an awful lot for a player's services whose behaviour has meant that he can no longer play for our first team. If so, it will be interesting to see how the club deals with it.  For Mutu, we got a lot of criticism for kicking out a person on drugs, which I never really understood.  Would we get the same criticism here if we did the same? Also, it would be interesting to know what his contract says.

Edited July 23 by Sciatika

[asvaberg]

37 minutes ago, Sciatika said:

Also, it would be interesting to know what his contract says.

It would surprise me if there isn't any form of "Code of conduct" appendix somewhere in the standard contracts. The appendix should cover how to behave as employee of CFC, hereunder zero tolerance of any form of discrimination (i.e. racism, religion, sexual orientation).

Furthermore the context in the appendix should not in any way be debatable, even for the most clever lawyers. 

[Ham]

8 hours ago, Floyd25 said:

I’m just amazed by his lack of intelligence to be honest, he thinks it’s a good idea to parade himself around in a river plate shirt, smiling as the entire crowd sings about black Frenchmen sleeping with trans people….the man is really dense clearly. 

The trans part is aimed directly at Mbappe apparently. 

[Mark Kelly]

Enough bad decisions: Accountability and communication is needed, now... The treatment of Trevoh Chalobah is a symptom of a bigger problem THE SCORE JUL 23     READ IN APP   I’ve defended the ownership of the club since the beginning. I did and still can see their long term vision for the club, for success investing the best young talent in the world and developing them into an elite team, and I understand it takes time. I also understand how when we don’t have Champions League money, in the short term, we might need to sell some players, maybe ones we don’t want, in order to comply with the rules. That’s just reality. However, the news about Trevoh Chalobah being left behind from the US tour to intentionally force him out of the club, is a tipping point for me. Trevoh has done nothing wrong for Chelsea. He went on loan, he developed, he earned his spot in the squad and the team, and has generally performed when he’s played for Chelsea. He’s a leader, a good pro and sets a good example. He’s won two trophies at Chelsea as a starter, the European Super Cup and Club World Cup. He’s been at Chelsea his whole life. There’s no reason to sell him. I’d arguably keep him over Conor Gallagher, given his versatility and our desire for “swiss army knife” players. He can play RCB, RB, and DM well. He has played in a back 3 and a back 4. He’s excellent on the ball. He’s arguably ready made for Maresca’s system. There’s other players we can sell for the same money (about £25-30m). But that’s not even the worst thing. The worst thing, is no player who has given what he has for the club, who has won things as a starter, who has been loyal and professional and expressed no desire to leave, should be treated like this. He’s being forced out of the club. This is bad in itself, but its a symptom of a bigger problem at the club. One of lack of communication, no accountability and poor handling of players and staff at director level. This, as it often seems to be, is largely the responsibility of Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, the two sporting directors. This falls under their remit, so it’s their responsibility. It’s become clear to me that at least one if not both of them have no idea how to manage people or have healthy human relationships. This is not how you treat people, generally. It’s cold, heartless and disrespectful. Personally, my view is if they really can’t see how good Trev is, they clearly aren’t the experts they claim to be, because we can all see how good Trev is, and the intangibles he has. But this cuts a lot deeper, to some concerns many fans have. I see a LOT of fans on twitter. I listen and I talk to several. One of the most rational, patient, intelligent fans I know, who’s always backed the owners, told me today is he is now afraid for the future of the club. They, as well as many fans, are concerned that the necessary focus on increasing revenue has gone too far, and taken priority over the football, and the good of the team. Making Chelsea profitable and financially compliant IS important, but the football should ALWAYS be the focus and main goal. We have a CEO in Chris Jarosek, who made fun of the clubs fans, who calls us customers, and who is freezing a lot of fans out with price rises (I only caveat that by saying the price rises themselves were expected, but it was handled poorly), got rid of subsidised away buses, and has shown he has no knowledge of football or football culture, or how to run a football club. A football club is not like a normal business, it takes specific skillset, and although he has business acumen, he’s not a football person. We have sporting directors who are excellent at spotting talent and pretty good at making smart signings, but have no idea how to either run an elite sporting operation or manage people. They often appear to treat our players like commodities, not human beings. Some owners and directors read this, so take note. You are losing the fans. More than you think. Many fans are beginning to feel like the owners just don’t care about success on the pitch, don’t respect either fans or players, and only care about money. Whether it’s true or not, with respect, people like Jarosek and even Behdad Eghbali at times come across as not having any kind of understanding or respect for football culture. This may be just an issue of communication, but that’s the impression given. People like Barbara Charone and Daniel Finklestein, both non executive directors and long time Chelsea fans, are doing an amazing job in their respective roles. They are the only ones in senior roles who seem to have a deep passion, love and understanding of Chelsea FC and football culture. They should be listened to and be given a lot more influence, for me. Many fans are tired of PR briefings which are clearly not the truth. We’re not fools, we can tell. We’re tired of being patronised. We’re tired of the ownership not communicating honestly and properly with us. The letters in the programme notes last season were positive and a step forward, and I’m grateful for this, but that was not and never will be enough. Given what's happened on the pitch in the last two years, fans are owed an explanation for many decisions, an apology for the mistakes, and some insight into the ambitions, goals and vision for Chelsea, directly to fans on the club channels. This is now non negotiable. Fans are running out of patience. Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart should be held accountable for the last 18 months and for treatment of some players and staff. Yes, they have done some good things, I would never deny this, I’ve even talked about on this site. This isn’t a witch hunt and I’ll always try to be balanced. Some of the hires and signings they’ve made have been positive for Chelsea. But, there have been some major mistakes, and Winstanley and Stewart need to own their mistakes, take responsibility and show they’ve learned their lessons. Aggressively forcing players out of the club who don’t want to leave, who’ve been good servants and good professionals, with poor disrespectful treatment is classless, and in my view, not in the spirit of Chelsea. Whatever people thought of Mauricio Pochettino as a coach, they did the same with him by essentially not communicating with him for months and never backing him. They’ve been openly trying to sell Conor Gallagher for 18 months. There were even some unconfirmed stories (I’m not saying these are true, but these stories did surface at the time), on how the departure of Jim Fraser, a long time servant to the club, was not handled well. This shows a pattern of behaviour, and its not healthy or acceptable. This is not elite level executive management of a football club. This is not how big, ambitious, serious football clubs operate. If you want to sell a player or want a manager or staff member out, no problem, but handle it with class and dignity. I still believe in the owners ambitions and vision for the club, but the optics are awful right now and the treatment of some staff - including players - by those at the top, doesn’t appear to be good at times. If it is, and there’s another side to the story, then fine, but its certainly not the impression being given to fans. If this season doesn’t go well again, the fans aren’t going to just take it, and a change of manager won’t cut it either. There will need to be changes at a higher level and if no explanation is forthcoming, fans won’t be hesitant to show their feelings, hopefully in a respectful but decisive way. We are not customers. We love our club. We have a lifetime emotional investment in the club. We’re going to be here, and we want the best for our club. The fans' voices must always be respected and listened to. We really do want to work with the owners for the benefit of the club, we want to collaborate and get behind our team. But we need to know what's coming from the club is professional, to a high standard of football and professionalism, demonstrating clear ambition, and in good faith. We need to be able to trust the owners and directors. I still trust the owners ambitions and know our sporting directors can spot talent and buy smart well. I have full faith in Joe Shields more than anyone, and am glad he is getting more influence. But I’m starting to lose trust in our two sporting directors to run the club well. Many fans have lost trust in the entire ownership, and it will take a lot to win it back. I’d like to think both owners, directors and fans all want what’s good for Chelsea. But there are legitimate and founded concerns, which must be addressed. The Score

 

[chara]

17 hours ago, chara said:

Respect your views and no one is defending the idiot,,my concern is that the shirt issue can/is being used to minimise or deflect from the real issues.

The shirt without the song is a nothing issue and probably wouldn't receive much, if any, media attention,

Again,,respect your pov but I'm done with the shirt question,

@martin1905,,,,I failed to make my thoughts clear on the issue and may have appeared to be dismissing the overall importance for which I apologise,,,,see underlined above.

added..I'm as guilty of that as anyone.

Debate regarding the shirt wearing ..whilst relevant ,,,takes away from the absolutely appalling behavior,

 

Edited July 23 by chara

[Guest Alex]

On 22/07/2024 at 18:25, Sleeping Dave said:

My take on this is this, 

1. Enzo is not a very clever guy, possibly quite stupid even

2. He is a young lad who got caught up in the moment of winning a big title for his country

3. The song they sing is a song they do sing in his country. It's not pretty, but at most (at least the lines I've read) not outright rascist, referring to some of the french players heritage. I'd say that at most, the text can be deemed as very nationalistic. But rascist? Not for me. There are songs sung on the terraces in England week in and week out which are, in comparison, a lot more rascist than the line sung in the video. So the double standard here is quite extraordinary. 

4. It is true that a lot of the French players are not of french heritage, for a proud patriotic country I can see how that is something to get stuck on and used as a stick to beat them (France) with. My take is not that they are trying to put down the players worth, but rather highlight how a country like France is dependent on players with a heritage outside France (and hence, should not play for France but rather the country their family comes from)

5. Having said all this, it is unacceptable for highly paid professionals to not understand that this doesn't fly in 2024

6. It also lacks a lot of dignity and class

7. Parading in the River Plate jersey was stupid and he's been badly advised here. The result was expected and he should have known this

8. I think this will blow over, he'll get a massive fine from the club, possibly even a few games ban by FIFA

9. The club will have their hands full in trying to get the squad to move past this. Lots of difficult questions should be asked of Fofana. He has acted very badly here, this should have been an internal matter and solved internally. Posting this on social media makes me think Fofana is not very clever either, quite possibly stupid as well. 

10. Ultimately, this just highlights once again why we should focus on our own academy products where we have a massive input in their education and what the club expects from their behaviour. Buying young uneducated lads from South America (or any other country for that matter) will be a considerably higher risk - not only in how they will settle in the country, but also in terms of culture and values and how well they are educated.

 

The situation is unfortunate, and the club will take a massive hit here. If Enzo continues to underperform I reckon he'll be gone next summer at a considerable loss for the club. 

There's a few sensible points here, but also some batshit ones. The latter being that Fofana is anyway at fault here, or that you should try and pick apart a player's heritage and make him play for a country he may never have even visited or has two grandparents from. The song is also very racist. In the light of the general unhappiness from some areas of the population about immigration the idea is you want immigrants to acclimatise and adopt their new nations culture and values., also denying them the right to do that would be downright unlawful anywhere even in tinpot regimes.