Rosenior drops Enzo Fernandez after ‘line was crossed’ as Chelsea boss ‘disappointed’ with teammate | OneFootball

Liam Rosenior says Enzo Fernandez has “crossed a line” and he’s been dropped by the Chelsea boss for his comments over the international break.

The Blues have slumped to sixth in the Premier League having won just one of their last six top flight games and have been dumped out of both the Carabao Cup and Champions League under Liam Rosenior, who replaced Enzo Maresca at the Stamford Bridge helm in January.

Fernandez, Chelsea’s vice-captain, has cast huge doubt over his own future in that time as he flirts with Real Madrid, who have been linked with his services of late.

Following the Champions League humbling by PSG, Fernandez told ESPN Argentina when asked about his future at Stamford Bridge: “I don’t know – there are eight games left and the FA Cup. There’s the World Cup and then we’ll see.”

In an interview over the weekend Fernandez insisted he would like to move to Madrid at some point in the future.

He said: “I’d like to experience, I don’t know, live there. I really like Madrid, it reminds me a lot of Buenos Aires.”

And Rosenior has confirmed on the back of those comments that Fernandez will play no part in their FA Cup clash with Port Vale on Saturday or the crucial Premier League game against Manchester City next Sunday.

Rosenior said in his press conference: “I spoke with Enzo an hour ago. As a football club, with me as part of the decision, he won’t be available for tomorrow’s game or Manchester City next Sunday. A line was crossed in terms of our culture and what we want to build.

“It’s not ideal. A lot of this stems from a difficult 10 days. I’ll go back to the first game against PSG, it all fell apart in 15 minutes and there was a huge emotional dump that led into the next three games. The comments from Enzo, and Cucu’s interview, stems from that. It stems from a good place where they want the club to succeed.

“Enzo, firstly, as a character, a person and a player, I have the utmost respect. He’s frustrated because he wants us to be successful. In terms of the decision, it’s not all about me, or the sporting directors, the ownership, the players, we are aligned in our decision. The door is not closed on Enzo. It’s a sanction. You have to protect the culture and in terms of that, a line was crossed.

“Even at Everton, there was no lack of commitment in his performance. In terms of speaking for him, what he wants and his future, it’s not for me to speak about.”

Marc Cucurella also caused a stir this week as he hit out at the club’s transfer policy and the mid-season managerial change while admitting an offer from Barcelona would be “difficult to refuse”, and Rosenior revealed why he was “disappointed” with the left-back.

:I had a fantastic chat with Marc yesterday, half an hour in my office,” Rosenior added. “I’ve been here for less than three months, I’m enjoying it. My disappointment in Marc’s interview was where it went to, I think he should’ve spoke to us first about how he was feeling. As a football club, we know we need to improve. We know what we’re going to do in the summer to achieve those objectives.

Asked if Cucurella will sanctioned like Fernandez, Rosenior added: “That’s a separate case. Marc is available and will be involved tomorrow.”