Chelsea star told he will ‘never be forgiven’ for racist chants as gut-wrenching record loss is tipped

Enzo Fernandez has been told Chelsea may be left with little choice but to sell the player for a vastly-reduced fee this summer after hearing he will never be forgiven by some of his Blues teammates for what has been described as ‘uninhibited racism’.

The Argentina midfielder became the costliest star in Chelsea history last year when he moved to Stamford Bridge in a British record £106.9m move from Benfica – just a matter of months after the Portuguese side had brought him to mainland Europe themselves for an initial €10m (£8.4m) plus €8m (£6.8m) in add-ons. But while he was soon surpassed as the club’s most-expensive ever player by another midfielder, Moises Caicedo, the Blues have struggled to find a system that gets the best out of their two more costly captures.

Mainly used by Chelsea as a No 8, Enzo made 40 appearances last season, scoring seven times.

Despite also weighing in with three assists, giving the 28-times capped Argentina star a goal involvement every four games, there are some at Stamford Bridge who remain sceptical of the 23-year-old abilities and amid question marks over whether the Blues paid over-the-odds for the World Cup winner.

IN DEPTH ➡️ The 11 Chelsea players that have brutally dropped in value since start of 2023/24 season

And now a dark new shadow has cast itself over Enzo’s future at Stamford Bridge after he was filmed singing a vile chant that questioned the heritage of France’s black and mixed-race players.

The video, released on social media after Argentina had beaten Colombia last weekend to win the Copa America, has understandably provoked an enormous outcry with the French Football Federation quick to highlight their contempt for the player’s ‘racist and discriminatory language’.

Enzo Fernandez: Racist video may cost star his Chelsea future

Among those understandably offended by the video is his Stamford Bridge teammate, Wesley Fofana, who was born in France but is of Ivorian heritage, who has called the video ‘uninhibited racism’.

Enzo, for his part, has publicly apologised for the video, insisting he is truly sorry for the chanting, though it may not spare him from punishments from both Chelsea and FIFA with an investigation thought to be underway.

Enzo could be handed a fine and potentially handed a lengthy suspension for his chant.

However, the situation could yet have far greater consequences with former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino explaining to talkSPORT that the Blues may be left with little option but to offload the midfielder and that there may be no way back for him at Stamford Bridge.

F365 ANALYSIS: Enzo Fernandez and Wesley Fofana bring out football’s inhibited racists

“It’s going to be tricky,” Cascarino stated when asked if Enzo will play for the Blues again. “I look back at when I was at Chelsea in the 90s and I’m not sure that dressing room would be okay with what Enzo Fernandez did.

“That’s a tricky one to handle. I think Chelsea have got a major decision on whether they actually keep Enzo Fernandez.

“Having players not happy with a guy in the dressing room, I’m not sure there will be many that comfortable with some of the things that have gone on.

“There’s no excuse for that to go out. It’s not going to sit well with the other players is it?

“I don’t know how you can handle it because there will be players who can’t forgive. There might be some who can move on despite not liking what happened.”

Chelsea face enormous loss if forced to sell £106.9m midfielder

Cascarino reckons Enzo faces a long road back before having the respect of his teammates again and added: “You don’t need everyone to like each other at a club but this is a really, really tricky one. Some players won’t want to move on or make it work.

“He’s going to have to apologise to the squad face-to-face as well and maybe then there will be a bit more forgiveness.”

Were the situation to cause ructions in the squad, Cascarino reckons the Blues will have little option but to cash in on the player.

And should that happen, there will be next to no chance of the Blues getting anywhere near the fee they forked out to sign him just 18 months ago.

Currently valued at around the €75m (£63.3m) mark by Transfermarkt, a move for around that fee would see the west London side lose £43.6m off their original investment.

Asked where the 23-year-old could end up, Cascarino insists there is only really one destination that the Blues could consider.

“It’s quite easy to see where he could go: Saudi Arabia. They’re prepared to pay big fees and big wages.”

Despite the controversy around the incident, Enzo’s Argentina teammate, Rodrigo De Paul, has defended the Chelsea man, claiming the chant has been taken out of context and is nothing more than a joke.

“What happens with this song thing is that one doesn’t analyse the song from the pitch, one sees it more in relation as a joke,” De Paul said in an interview on OLGA.

“Then I can understand people who have suffered racism and don’t like it.

“I think there are places… I think that if a person, or some of Enzo’s teammates as it happened, feels offended, the way to do it is to call him, not expose him on social media.

“There is a bit of malice there or wanting to put Enzo in a place that has absolutely nothing to do with it.

“It’s very strange, it’s like kicking a fallen tree. You call him and say, ‘dude, what happened?’.

DON’T MISS ➡️ Chelsea backed to lose ‘priceless’ gem to arch rivals as Man Utd transfer failure enhances belief

“If you have a relationship… these are people you’re with in the dressing room all the time, unfollowing him seems pointless to me.

“You call him and say, ‘listen, I think we might feel affected by this, why don’t you post a message apologising to the people’, and the subject ends there. Don’t make such a show of it.

“What I can say in defence of Enzo is that, obviously, the song is there because it was there, because people sing it.”