Alexander Isak’s protracted £125m move to Liverpool dominated last summer’s transfer window and there are signs that Manchester City‘s pursuit of Enzo Fernandez could follow a similar pattern.

Chelsea agreed with the Argentina midfielder’s agent Javier Pastore in late May that Fernandez could leave the club for £120m – but put a deadline of 14 August for any bids.

Now that last Friday’s deadline passed without any formal offers, the Blues have told Fernandez’s camp that the player is not for sale in this transfer window.

But, as last summer’s Isak saga showed, it is rarely that simple. The Sweden striker finally clinched his British record transfer move to Liverpool on transfer deadline day after weeks of Newcastle United insisting he was not for sale.

Twelve months on, the Fernandez uncertainty is not going away.

Manchester City, managed by Fernandez’s former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, are still keen to sign the 25-year-old and believe the London club still want to do a deal.

City, who are also in advanced talks about a £85m deal for Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, want to bolster their midfield after Rodri agreed a move to Barcelona and Bernardo Silva left when his contract expired.

They have already signed midfielder Elliot Anderson for a club-record £116m from Nottingham Forest, winger Jeremy Monga from Leicester City for £12.5m and goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli from Marseille for £1.7m.

If Fernandez and Bouaddi join, it means Maresca will likely to have overseen a total spend of more than £330m.

A chunk of that outlay will be funded by the sales of Rodri and James Trafford as well as the likely departures of Tijjani Reijnders and Savinho. The exits of Silva, John Stones and Nathan Ake have reduced the wage bill too.

Reports from Spain suggest Chelsea remain privately open to selling Fernandez and that the club have appointed high-profile agent Jorge Mendes, who also represents winger Pedro Neto, to resolve the situation.

Fernandez tried and failed to secure a move to Real Madrid earlier in the summer – despite the club later denying any interest – and the situation is further complicated by his relationship with Chelsea‘s fans.

There were audible jeers when he came on in Saturday’s 3-1 friendly win over Real Sociedad, although others responded with cheers. There was a similar mixed reaction every time he touched the ball.

Chelsea remain confident the midfielder can be reintegrated back into the squad and made a show of intent by giving him the captain’s armband when he replaced Reece James last weekend.

However doubt remains over whether Fernandez will stay, and there is concern about the disruption such a late transfer would create, not least if new manager Xabi Alonso wanted to recruit a replacement.

There are echoes of last summer’s Isak story, with Newcastle appearing to take a strong stance and rejecting an initial £110m offer despite widespread knowledge that he was training away from the club with his former side Real Sociedad.

It continued throughout the summer and only came to a conclusion when Liverpool announced the deal two-and-a-half hours after the transfer window closed.

The Magpies had already signed attacking reinforcements, bringing in Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart for a club-record fee of £69m and Yoane Wissa from Brentford for £55m. Neither signing performed as hoped though, and Newcastle endured a disappointing season.

Alonso has used a 3-4-2-1 system in pre-season and it has been successful. It largely mirrors the set-up he used when guiding Bayer Leverkusen to an historic league and cup double in 2024.

Moises Caicedo and James were the midfield pair at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with Jordan Henderson sidelined by injury.

Romeo Lavia came off the bench, with Valentin Barco and Dario Essugo remaining unused substitutes.

Chelsea are well stocked in midfield, especially in a season without European football, and could cope in terms of numbers without signing a replacement for Fernandez if he left.

In fact, they know they need to move on a significant amount of players before the window closes.

However, earlier this summer they made a £64m bid for Bournemouth‘s Alex Scott and were reportedly offered Arsenal midfielder Myles Lewis-Skelly. They have also been linked with Crystal Palace‘s Adam Wharton and Monaco’s Lamine Camara.

Bournemouth say Scott is not for sale at any price and it’s also understood that Lewis-Skelly, who set up the first goal in the Community Shield win over City, is keen to remain at Arsenal.

Whether Chelsea resist City’s interest and fully reintegrate Fernandez to the squad or whether they sell the midfielder is likely to be one of the themes of the final two weeks of the transfer window.