Revealed: Chelsea made shock Bouaddi demand and 'swap' propsal in Fernandez Man City talks

Revealed: Chelsea's shock Bouaddi demand in Fernandez Man City transfer talks Make us your Google favourite Chelsea reportedly asked Manchester City to ‘back away’ from signing Ayyoub Bouaddi during negotiations for Enzo Fernandez so that they could bring in the youngster instead, according to fresh insight into the deal. Fernandez completed his long-anticipated move to City on deadline day , once again becoming one of the most expensive signings in Premier League history with his €145 million arrival from Chelsea. Talks between both clubs had been drawn out over the summer, with Fernandez having been a top target for Maresca ever since the Italian replaced Pep Guardiola in July, only for City to miss Chelsea’s mid-August deadline to make an acceptable offer for the midfielder. City eventually paid a slight premium for their sins but not before also bringing in Bouaddi from Lille for €95m, while Maresca’s side had also registered an interest in two other Chelsea stars in Pedro Neto and Malo Gusto. According to insider sources , Chelsea had asked City to ‘back away’ from Bouaddi to allow him to replace Fernandez at Stamford Bridge, while they also demanded Nico O’Reilly in exchange for Gusto, along with their full asking price of £80m (€93m.) Chelsea sources denied the reports about Bouaddi and claimed that Gusto was never available for a move, with a deal for Fernandez being the only bit of business conducted between both sides to give the Argentine international a dream reunion with Maresca. Fernandez leaves Chelsea stranded as Man City secure final piece of Maresca’s dream midfield Having enjoyed a strong relationship with Maresca at Chelsea, Fernandez became unsettled following the Italian’s sudden departure in January and the 25-year-old started actively pushing for an exit, with Real Madrid his ideal destination. Madrid, for their part, never made a serious approach for Fernandez and even released a public statement denying their interest, having assessed the price Chelsea would demand for their star man. Fernandez is said to have been a target for City as early as April, at a time when the club were privately aware of Guardiola’s intentions to leave and with Maresca already identified as his successor. Having sold Rodri this summer to Barcelona, City were desperate to replace him with another playmaker to complement the signings of Bouaddi and Elliot Anderson in a new-look midfield that has cost a staggering €375m. Chelsea, meanwhile, failed to sign a replacement before the transfer window closed, having seen Monaco u-turn on an agreement to sell Lamine Camara , leaving Xabi Alonso short-staffed in midfield for the first half of the season after Fernandez’s departure.