Chelsea boss Rosenior insists Fernandez saga has not divided players

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez’s club-enforced suspension has not divided the dressing room, head coach Liam Rosenior said ahead of his return this weekend.

Midfielder Fernandez missed Chelsea’s FA Cup quarter-final win over Port Vale and their 3-0 Premier League defeat to Manchester City after being suspended for comments made in the media suggesting he would like to move to Real Madrid.

Fernandez and his agent apologised for the remarks, made while away on international duty with Argentina, and Rosenior indicated the saga has had no impact on his team-mates.

Rosenior was asked in his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Manchester United if the episode had split his squad.

“Not that I’m aware of, no. Enzo’s come back to the group this week,” Rosenior replied.

“The group’s been fantastic in terms of his training, Enzo has as well. It’s just business as usual in terms of the selection for the game.”

What did Fernandez say about his Chelsea future?

Fernandez caused a stir with his answers to questions about his Chelsea future in the wake of their emphatic Champions League exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain.

Asked by ESPN Argentina at an event in Paris if he would still be at Chelsea next season, Fernandez replied: “I don’t know.

“My focus is here now. Then the World Cup coming up, so we’ll see after that.”

The 25-year-old, whose contract runs until 2032, then told media personality Marcos Giles: “I really like Madrid – it’s similar to Buenos Aires.”

Quizzed on whether he would like to live the Spanish capital, he said: “Yes, of course.”

Rosenior not focused on Chelsea fan protest

Chelsea have won just one of their last seven Premier League games, suffering defeat in each of their last three.

That has left the Blues in jeopardy of missing out on Champions League football next season, even with the Premier League once again earning a fifth qualification spot.

Rosenior’s men are four points adrift of fifth-placed Liverpool with six games to play. The Blues visit Liverpool in their penultimate away game of the season next month.

A fan protest against the BlueCo, the consortium that owns the club, is planned ahead of kick-off against United at Stamford Bridge.

“I think obviously we’re not in a good place in terms of the results,” Rosenior said. “It’s a brilliant challenge in terms of myself, in terms of my energy, what I give the team, and more about what we do together.

“To be honest, every supporter has their viewpoint. Every supporter wants their club to do well and to win games of football. Our job, my job with the team, is to produce those results in the long term.

“I respect any fan’s points of view, but that’s [the protest] not my focus. My focus is on winning the game on Saturday.

“We’ve had a lot of really strong conversations as a group. We’ve had some very, very good training sessions. In this moment, you find out about yourself, you find out about your group, and you actually just have to stay focused on the process.

“We need to be perfect in every area or near-perfect in every area to get to where we want to be [a top-five finish], but it’s possible.

“As the season goes on, the less games you have left, the more important the games become. We have to take advantage of this moment. We’re running out of time. We need to show that initiative on Saturday evening and we need to play on the front foot and we need to make up those points, which is still definitely possible.”