Chelsea expect Enzo Fernández to stay after Manchester City opt not to meet deadline

Enzo Maresca is expecting a busy end to the transfer window but says Manchester City will not meet Chelsea’s 5pm Friday deadline to sign Enzo Fernández.

Maresca takes charge of City for the first time in a competitive match on Sunday against Arsenal in Cardiff but is a long way from finalising the squad he will have for the season. City are closing to signing the 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille, while Chelsea’s Fernández, who worked with Maresca at Stamford Bridge, is of interest but would cost £120m. The Blues set a 5pm cut-off point on Friday to reach their valuation or not bother.

“Not today to be honest, I don’t think we’re going to do something today,” Maresca said. “For sure there are things we need to do, how many I don’t know, can be one can be two depends also if players want to leave so we can see. It’s 48 hours for the final, my first final in this club, I would like to win my first trophy, so my focus isn’t on players that can leave or players that can arrive, my focus is on the game.”

The club have rejected two bids from Barcelona for Rodri and are expected to sell Tijjani Reijnders in the coming days.

Rodri, who has a year remaining on his contract, returned to the club on Friday after his holiday following the culmination of a triumphant World Cup but Maresca would not be drawn on the midfielder’s immediate future, with a third Barcelona offer anticipated.

“The transfer window is open, we can buy players, we can sell players, anything can happen. I just saw Rodri now in the building, I gave him a big hug, he looks good, so we’ll see what happens.”

Reijnders is set to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Qadsiah after the two clubs agreed a £51m fee for the Dutchman, who moved to City last summer from Milan but wants more regular playing time.

“They all work every day, they all do sessions every day and at the end of the week they all want to play a game,” Maresca said. “When they don’t play, they struggle to understand or they struggle to see the reason why and I can understand that after one season some of them would like to play a little bit more. It’s a normal situation.”

James Trafford has already been sold to Leeds, while Omar Marmoush, Rico Lewis and Savinho are others who spent much of Pep Guardiola’s final season on the periphery and could be sold.