Chelsea transfer news: Liam Rosenior reveals shock sanction for Enzo Fernandez after recent exit suggestions

Liam Rosenior has revealed that Chelsea have handed Enzo Fernandez a two-match ban for recent comments made about a future exit from Stamford Bridge.

On more than one occasion during March, the midfielder suggested that he was not certain to remain at Chelsea in the long term.

The World Cup winner has also publicly revealed that he would like to live in Madrid at some stage of his career, amid speculation that Real Madrid are interested in signing him during the summer transfer window.

At the same time, reports have also indicated that several of Chelsea's senior squad have been left annoyed by the 25-year-old's conduct in the dressing room during a four-game losing streak across all competitions.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Rosenior told reporters that Fernandez had been temporarily banished from contention for first-team matches, starting with Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final against Port Vale.

Rosenior says Fernandez 'crossed a line'

Although Rosenior made a point of reiterating that he respected Fernandez, he feels that the Argentine's comments went against club culture.

He said: "We spoke with Enzo an hour ago. As a football club, with me as part of that process, we've made a decision. He won't be available for tomorrow's game and he won't be available for Manchester City on Sunday.

"I think for Enzo, it's disappointing to speak in that way. What I will say about Enzo is in terms of him as a character, as a person, I've got no bad words to say about him. But I think a line was crossed in terms of our culture and what we want to build. So we had to make a sanction and that was a decision we've made."

Rosenior added: "It's not ideal. I think a lot of this stems from we had a really, really difficult 10 days. Probably the most difficult 10 days of my career as a player or a coach. I'll go back to the first game against PSG, the belief in the group and what we were doing, the performance was top and it all fell apart in 15 minutes and there was a huge emotional dump from that game, which I think fell through to the next three games that we played.

"Why was there such a big emotional dump? Because the players were so motivated and had so much belief that we could do something really special in the Champions League this year. I feel like not just the comments from Enzo, but Cucu's interview as well stems from that.

"It actually stems from a good place where they want to do well. They want the club to succeed. But in those moments, I think we need more emotional stability as a group of players, from me as the head coach, as a football club, so that we don't respond in the way we have done to the setbacks we've had."

Why Chelsea have made the right decision on Fernandez

Marc Cucurella was critical of the club's transfer strategy during the international break, while he also spoke about a potential return to Barcelona.

However, the left-back has not received the same sanction as Fernandez, there seemingly being some leniency through Cucurella providing a balanced argument during his recent interview.

With regards to Fernandez, he has openly flirted with a future move to Real Madrid, knowing that Los Blancos want a new midfielder this summer.

When it has been claimed that players have grown frustrated with being berated by Fernandez on the pitch and in the dressing room, this feels like the right moment to take the £106.8m player out of the picture in the short term.