Club President Insists £26M Rated Chelsea Target Is Going Nowhere Amid Claims He Has ‘Asked To Leave’
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Lille president Olivier Letang has told Chelsea transfer target Matias Fernandez-Pardo that he won’t be leaving the club this summer.
The Blues, Arsenal, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid have all been linked with the Belgian international, but Letang has confirmed that the player will be going nowhere:
“The player is under contract until 2029, and his departure is not an issue. We are counting on him, he knows that, and we have been very clear with him.”
It was previously reported that Lille would consider offers of around €30m (£26m) for the 21-year-old, but it looks like they have hardened their stance, with subsequent stories suggesting his asking price could be as high as €70m (£60m).
Fernandez-Pardo wants to move clubs
When sharing the quotes from Letang, The Team reporter Loic Tanzi also revealed on X that the forward had “asked to leave” Lille.
Fernandez-Pardo is said to be keen on moving from the the Ligue One side to a “bigger club” just two years after joining them from Gent. Clearly, the interest from Chelsea and others has turned his head.
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Do Chelsea need another winger?
There have been suggestions that the Blues are looking to add another wide player to the first-team squad following the departure of Alejandro Garnacho to Aston Villa.
However, manager Xabi Alonso is not exactly short of options on the flanks. While record signing Morgan Rogers is not an out-and-out winger, he can play there, and Geovany Quenda has also recently been added to a squad, which already has Estevao, Pedro Neto and Jamie Gittens.
You also have to take in account that Alonso’s team are pursuing Bayer Leverkusen’s Kerim Alajbegovic and Paris Saint-Germain’s Ibrahim Mbaye, who play in the same position.
