Published
on February 3, 2023
Benfica President, Rui Costa has slammed Enzo Fernandez over the player’s behaviour while he forced through a move to Chelsea.
Costa said he will not cry over the Argentine’s departure, having done everything to keep him at the club but the 22-year-old refused to stay.
Benfica was adamant the World Cup star was not for sale when initial approaches were made at the start of the month but even had to beg him to stay on loan till the end of the season after they agreed to sell him to Chelsea but the player refused.
Costa said that they accepted a small transfer fee from Chelsea to have Fernandez on loan till the end of the season and ensured that the midfielder would earn the same salary being offered by Chelsea but to no avail.
Costa felt that with this attitude he had no other option but to accept a Premier League record £115 million fee and let him go, vowing that the Argentina international will never wear the Benfica shirt again.
Addressing the press on Thursday, Costa said that the Argentina star never gave the Portuguese side any chance to keep him at the club but wanted to leave the club by all means.
The club’s boss, while expressing his sadness, said he did his best to keep him but added that: “I’m not going to cry for a player who didn’t want to stay.”
He said that Chelsea’s offer really changed the player’s behaviour and made it impossible to change his mind.
“From the moment Enzo realised [Chelsea would pay] the value of the clause it was unrelenting. We tried to insist, but the player did not show any openness to continuing at Benfica.
“I proposed to Chelsea that he stay until the summer for a lower value, but the player did not want to continue at Benfica – and this is when everything changed.
“At that point I said, ‘He can’t play for Benfica anymore, no way!’ I don’t cry for players who don’t want to wear our shirts.
“When I realised that he didn’t want to, I also didn’t want him to wear the Benfica shirt again.
“A player who, even with the possibility of not losing a Euro and with a secure Chelsea contract, does not want to continue, could never stay at Benfica. This player could no longer enter the locker room.”
Some pundits believe that the Argentina international should not have cost the Premier League giants that much, insisting the Blues’ owners are overpaying for players.
