Club’s board are now ‘divided’ over whether they should sell their £106m player to Chelsea – journalist

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Members of Benfica’s chain of command reportedly cannot see eye-to-eye about letting Enzo Fernandez join Chelsea in January.

According to Ben Jacobs, ‘there is now divided opinion within’ the club’s board over allowing their midfielder to move to Stamford Bridge next month or in summer.

Originally, Benfica had planned to hold onto Fernandez until at least the end of the season, with plenty still to play for domestically and in Europe.

The Eagles are flying high at the very summit of their respective division, and could well reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Key to their success on both fronts has been Fernandez, who has missed just two games in the league and in the continental competition.

He hasn’t featured for the Portuguese side since setting sail for the World Cup and eventually winning the tournament with Argentina.

Roger Schmidt will be expecting the global champion to re-join with the squad soon and hopefully push them towards their goals.

However, Schmidt might sooner be waving goodbye than welcoming the Argentine home.

Chelsea continue to chase Enzo Fernandez

Chelsea are apparently pushing hard to force Fernandez out of Estadio da Luz.

Todd Boehly would clearly prefer the player to improve Graham Potter’s team sooner rather than later.

Whilst Benfica will be hesitant to accept such a request, the heirehcy may be unable to deny Boehly’s advances if he pays above and beyond.

Fernandez has a £106m release clause, a fee the Chelsea owner could not only match, but add a few extra pennies on to.

It is this approach that has seemingly parted the Benfica board, as they seriously debate whether they should hold off the Premier League side until the campaign’s conclusion or not.