Chelsea signing ‘confirmed’ as Argentina midfielder joins amid Enzo Fernandez fallout | OneFootball

A new midfield signing is reportedly ‘confirmed’ at Chelsea, with the details of the deal reported by Gaston Edul, amid the fallout with current star Enzo Fernandez.

Chelsea have a wealth of midfield options and will apparently soon have more. To call upon in that area, they have Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Dario Essugo, Andrey Santos, Cole Palmer and Fernandez.

But of late, there have been reports that they were in talks over the signing of Argentina international Valentin Barco, who joined sister club Strasbourg from Brighton in 2025.

Previously a left-back, Barco has reinvented himself as a midfielder, where he played alongside Chelsea man Fernandez for Argentina on April 1, assisting the fifth goal in a victory against Zambia.

Now, insider Edul reports the signing of Barco at Stamford Bridge is ‘confirmed’.

He wrote on X: ‘Chelsea buys Valentín Barco. There is a contractual agreement with him and an understanding between clubs. He will join midway through the year.’

The signing of a star midfielder could come at a pivotal time, with the future of fellow Argentine Fernandez potentially up in the air.

The Chelsea captain openly spoke about a desire to play in Madrid in the week, amid constant links with Real, and his lack of subtlety in the media has led to a two-game ban from the club.

His agent, Javier Pastore, has detailed how they feel the ban is unfair.

“Enzo didn’t understand the situation,” he said.

“When the coach told him, he accepted it because he’s a highly professional guy who’s always fully committed wherever he is and respects decisions, but we don’t understand the punishment because he doesn’t mention any club or say he wants to leave Chelsea, far from it.

“He only mentions Madrid, the city, because he was asked which European city he’d like to live in one day, and he said Madrid because of the language, because it’s similar to Buenos Aires and because it’s logical — it’s only natural for an Argentine to say that — and also because of the culture, the weather.

“But at no point does he say he wants to leave Chelsea or London.”

Pastore also admitted that while Fernandez wants to renew his contract with Chelsea, if they can’t come to an agreement, he’s ready to look elsewhere.

“There have been talks about renewing his contract, yes,” he said.

“We started discussing it around December or January, but we couldn’t reach an agreement.

“As Enzo’s contract still has six years to run, we decided not to renew it because the terms weren’t right for us or for the player; given what Enzo is capable of today, he deserves much more than he’s currently earning.

“We haven’t reached an agreement and it may be that this annoyed the club, given that he is a hugely important player, but these are things that have to be managed.

“I look at the sporting and financial aspects of the player’s situation, and I didn’t see that renewal coming to fruition because they weren’t very realistic about Enzo’s current situation.

“Our plan after the World Cup is to meet with Chelsea again and, if there is no agreement, to explore other options.”