Chelsea

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Enzo Fernandez has presented Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior with the first major internal disciplinary issue of his tenure at Stamford Bridge by casting doubt on his Blues future.

Rosenior and Chelsea's hierarchy responded by issuing Fernandez with a two‑match internal suspension for "crossing a line". The ban ruled him out of the FA Cup tie against Port Vale and Sunday's Premier League game against Manchester City.

The decision was made by Rosenior alongside co‑sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, with the backing of influential ownership figures including Behdad Eghbali.

Rosenior has sought to offer Fernandez an olive branch and a route forward following the punishment.

The midfielder has continued to train with the first‑team squad and, at present, there has been no indication he will be stripped of his leadership role.

After the Port Vale game - which Fernandez watched from behind the Chelsea bench - Rosenior said things are "not what people think" between the two of them.

The former Strasbourg, Hull City and Derby County boss has also chosen not to respond publicly to Fernandez's representatives, who have since insisted their client never said he wanted to leave Chelsea or London, nor referenced Real by name.

The scrutiny is unlikely to ease and will add another layer of pressure to Fernandez's performances when he returns against Manchester United next weekend.

It is a blow for Chelsea, who are also without Reece James through injury, leaving Andrey Santos or Romeo Lavia likely to step up against City.

Read more on Fernandez's suspension

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The Premier League will have at least five teams in the Champions League next season after securing a European Performance Spot for the second straight year.

The extra place was confirmed on Tuesday as Arsenal beat Sporting 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.

Uefa awards an additional place to the two leagues with the best overall performance across the three European competitions.

The race for fifth place in the Premier League, currently held by Liverpool on 49 points, is exceptionally tight.

Just seven points separate Arne Slot's side from 13th-placed Bournemouth.

Chelsea (48) sit in sixth followed by Brentford (46), Everton (46), Fulham (44), Brighton (43), Sunderland (43), Newcastle (42) and Bournemouth (42).

If Aston Villa, who are fourth on 54 points, win the Europa League and finish outside the top four, the Premier League would have six teams in the Champions League.

The same logic applies to Liverpool, who face Paris St-Germain in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday.

If either win a European trophy and finish fifth, then sixth would qualify for the Champions League via the EPS place.

If both win European trophies and finish fifth and sixth, that would put seventh into the Champions League.

Nottingham Forest are in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. They could emulate Tottenham by winning the competition and finishing in the bottom half of the table.

Just like last season, that would create a sixth team in the Champions League for the Premier League too.

Chelsea and Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez is preparing to submit a transfer request to pave the way for a summer move to Real Madrid. (El Chiringuito, via Goal, external)

Tottenham and Chelsea are both looking at signing Sporting midfielder Maxi Araujo. The 26-year-old can play as a left winger or wing-back and is a regular for Uruguay. (CaughtOffside, external)

Meanwhile, Chelsea are looking to bring former Brighton defender Valentin Barco from their sister club Strasbourg this summer. The 21-year-old only made six Premier League appearances for Albion but has been capped by Argentina. (FourFourTwo, external)

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Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

As things stand, Chelsea will go into one of their most challenging, and potentially pivotal, matches of the Premier League season so far without one of their key players.

Enzo Fernandez's comments about his future at the club over the international break "crossed a line" according to Liam Rosenior, and the £107m midfielder will sit out Sunday's visit of Manchester City after also missing the FA Cup victory against Port Vale.

Chelsea's vice-captain has only missed one Premier League game all season - against Nottingham Forest in October with a knee problem - and has started in all but one of his 30 appearances.

The 25-year-old has scored eight goals and registered three assists in the league and, as recently as January, Chelsea reporter Nizaar Kinsella wrote about how he "has established himself as one of, if not the, most important players in Chelsea's attack".

Several key metrics illustrate how much the Blues rely on his comfort in possession.

Fernandez has made more passes that have broken the opposition's defensive line than any player in the Premier League this season (41) and has also completed the most successful lay-offs (73).

His 36 line-breaking passes into the opposition's penalty area is a joint-high with Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, while the Portuguese playmaker is the only player in the division (33) to make more than the Chelsea man's 21 through balls.

He is also in the top six in the Premier League for passes ending in the final third (595), passes in the opposition half (1,048), and chances created including assists (51).

Should there be no reversal of the decision to leave Fernandez out of the match, it would remove a key cog in Chelsea's creativity both in build-up and in the final third and leave a significant hole for Rosenior to fill, against a City team which appears brimming with confidence.

Last weekend's 7-0 demolition of Port Vale has shown the Blues can create in Fernandez's absence, but nobody is in any doubt that City will provide an entirely different challenge.

All stats provided by Opta.

Will Faulks
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

When results are bad and morale is worse, there is not much more you can hope for than a 7-0 win - especially one with seven different goalscorers.

The victory over Port Vale gives Chelsea a huge injection of positive emotions at a crucial time, relieving pressure on Liam Rosenior and distracting from the mess off the field. It should bring a better mood to training this week and some smiles back to a group that felt at breaking point.

But all of that good energy will dissipate very quickly against Manchester City on Sunday if the Blues are not competitive. Things will return to the gloom of the past few weeks instantly if they do not at least put up a strong fight against Pep Guardiola's side.

Stamford Bridge will be in full voice backing their team - but if they put in a performance similar to those against Everton and Newcastle in recent games, that support will turn on them quickly.

There are reasons to be positive - Estevao is back, there is finally some depth in midfield and Cole Palmer is looking better physically. But there are also reasons to be very afraid - the defence looks even more ragged without Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah, and City could really tear them apart.

The mentality of this group has been questioned, even by their manager, who pointed out in his press conference last week that one of his priorities for the summer was to buy players who were "emotionally stable" and able to cope when things go wrong.

If they fold with the same ease on Sunday as they have in their recent defeats, the reasons for that priority will become even more obvious.

Their Champions League hopes may be reduced to almost nothing, but these players need to play for pride and for their future in this project before another busy summer.

Find more from Will Faulks at Chelsea News, external

Borussia Dortmund are interested in Strasbourg and Belgium's Diego Moreira, 21, but Chelsea have a buy-back clause for the left-sided player. (Florian Plettenberg, external)

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We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's FA Cup game between Chelsea and Port Vale.

Here are some of your comments:

Kenny: Great performance, sloppy in the first half and sharper in the second half. Been a turbulent few weeks for Liam Rosenior and needed this victory more. Job done and onto the next against Manchester City.

Andrew: Outstanding display from Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Great credit to Port Vale on their great FA Cup run from League One.

David: 7-0 is a good scoreline but this slow-paced football is so depressing to watch. Every player seems to decide a good ball is going backwards. The players offer so much but lack the motivation to attack.

Richard: A much better game from Palmer in his best position and without Fernandez getting in the way all the time.

Chris: Every time I hear a post-match interview from Liam Rosenior, I still can't believe he's been watching the same game as me! He keeps saying how "outstanding" the players were, when they weren't. We need a bit of honesty from this man!

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea have held talks over the signing of forward N'Sira Safi from the Right to Dream Academy.

The 17‑year‑old was called up by the Ivory Coast for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, which was cancelled at short notice last month.

Safi had a trial with Chelsea in the summer of 2025 and impressed manager Sonia Bompastor.

No agreement has yet been reached and Right to Dream, a multi‑club organisation with a strong record of developing African talent, also has the option of placing Safi at one of its affiliated clubs after her 18th birthday.

The group includes Nordsjaelland in Denmark and San Diego FC in the United States.

BlueCo, which owns Chelsea and Strasbourg, has an extensive scouting network in Africa that has supported recruitment across their men's teams in England and France.

They have also hired a women's sporting director, Phil Radley, who has a decade's experience at Nordsjaelland.

Because of the Football Association's complex Governing Body Endorsement regulations regarding signing non-British players, recruiting young Africans into women's football in England is generally more difficult.

Clubs in the United States face fewer restrictions and therefore dominate recruitment from the continent.

Those same rules mean that if Safi joined Chelsea, an initial loan move may be required to aid her development while she builds the international caps needed to secure a full work permit for the reigning Women's Super League champions.

The 2026 summer transfer window opens on 15 June and closes on 31 August.

Image source, Getty Images

The Telegraph's Luke Edwards says Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final demolition of Port Vale was the "perfect result" for Liam Rosenior, but that Chelsea "may well have a problem this summer with some of their senior players wanting to leave".

Vice-captain Enzo Fernandez was left out of the squad on Saturday by Rosenior and will also miss next Sunday's match with Manchester City after "crossing the line" with recent comments casting uncertainty over his future.

"I'm impressed with that, it's strong," Edwards told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.

"There will be some who think it's maybe still not strong enough and that Fernandez shouldn't play again until he apologises but I doubt very much that is going to happen.

"Liam Rosenior has had a difficult spell, as he was always going to when going into that job with the unbalanced squad they have got in terms of too many young players and not enough experience.

"It was a perfect result for him, it gives them an FA Cup semi-final to look forward to which is positive and much-needed. I like what he's done with Fernandez but I think the wider issue here is that Chelsea may well have a problem this summer with some of their senior players wanting to leave."

Fernandez's comments came in the same week another senior figure, Marc Cucurella, gave an interview in which he questioned the clubs' hierarchy in making the decision to part ways with Enzo Maresca.

"Cucurella has voiced his displeasure at some of the things that have happened there this season," Edwards added.

"Fernandez is fluttering his eyelashes at Madrid in the hope they come in for him.

"There's constant noise which I suspect will get louder about Cole Palmer wanting out as well. This is the problem Chelsea and BlueCo have when they run it like a business. They've recruited all these players on long-term contracts but it's a short career.

"These players might not see that they're going to win the big prizes at Chelsea so they might want out.

"It's going to be another intriguing summer because they do need to overhaul that squad but they won't want to lose their senior and most experienced players. But, that's easily what could happen."

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Chelsea are among the clubs who have been contacted about the potential availability of Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr, 25. (Teamtalk), external

Chelsea could turn to Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs, 23, to replace incumbent number one Robert Sanchez. (Teamtalk), external

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Image source, Getty Images

The draw for the FA Cup semi-finals has been made.

Leeds United will play Chelsea after reaching the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 39 years.

Last year's finalists Manchester City will take on Championship side Southampton in the other semi-final.

The games will be played at Wembley on the weekend of 25-26 April.

Watch all the highlights and best video from this season's FA Cup

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Liam Rosenior has been in an unforgiving spotlight, with Chelsea's string of defeats including a heavy Champions League loss to Paris St-Germain, along with a desperately disappointing display in their most recent Premier League game, a 3-0 defeat at Everton.

In the intervening period, Rosenior has had to deal with Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella openly discussing a potential future away from Stamford Bridge.

Rosenior, therefore, will be greatly relieved at the manner in which Chelsea produced a professional performance to deny Port Vale a fairytale Wembley trip and spare him more headaches.

Chelsea's opening goal settled any nerves and tension that might have lingered from recent turbulence, and while Vale were stubborn for a while, once Joao Pedro added the second the game was as good as over.

Even Fernandez appeared in good spirits as he sat all smiles behind the Chelsea bench.

The star of the show for Chelsea was 18-year-old Brazilian Estevao, producing a bag of tricks, usually at high pace, that was too much for Vale to cope with.

He will be crucial as Chelsea chase silverware in the shape of the FA Cup, as well as a place in next season's Champions League through a lofty Premier League finish.

This was as routine as any FA Cup quarter-final could be – and that will have suited Rosenior perfectly.

Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior, speaking to BBC Sport: "It's great, it's why you come to this club, you want to win trophies, you want to be in big games and I was really happy with the players. Their attitude was top. We scored seven goals and that came from an energy and intensity which I enjoyed."

On what he said at half-time: "I said play like it's 0-0, we have to be perfect. I thought the players were outstanding in terms of carrying that out."

On Estevao: "There is no ceiling for him. We've missed him. He comes in and just plays, he wants to get on the ball. Wherever he is on the pitch he's a threat."

On winning amid the noise off the pitch: "Football is about football on the pitch. This is a huge club with a lot of scrutiny, a lot of people writing a lot of things. We had a really difficult 10 days but the way we came through is a really good step for the run-in."

Chelsea goalscorer Tosin Adarabioyo, speaking to BBC Sport: "Very good, great to play some nice football and to get another win and clean sheet at Stamford Bridge. It's been a two-week break now since our last games which didn't go so well and we wanted to come back home and put a good result in and that's what we did."

On the conversations going into the game: "It's the FA Cup and anything can happen. We knew it was going to be difficult today if we didn't do our best. They beat a Premier League team in the last round, so we knew we had to put in a performance."

On what reaching the final would mean: "That's the aim, we want to end the season with a trophy. Our aim is to get to the final and win the trophy."

Did you know?

• Chelsea are the first team to score seven or more goals in an FA Cup quarter-final game since Liverpool beat Birmingham City 7-0 in 2005-06.

• Chelsea have reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the 28th time, with only Man Utd (32) and Arsenal (30 before their game against Southampton this evening) reaching the final four of the competition on more occasions.

• Aged 18y 345d, Chelsea's Estevao is the youngest player to both score and assist in an FA Cup game for a Premier League side since Bukayo Saka for Arsenal against Bournemouth in January 2020 (18y 144d).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

What did you make of Chelsea's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Chelsea make three changes from the side beaten so disappointingly at Everton in their last Premier League game.

Enzo Fernandez has been given a two-game ban by the club after outspoken comments suggesting he leave in the summer. Andrey Santos starts in midfield while Estevao Willian is also in the starting line-up. Moises Caicedo drops down the bench.

Chelsea XI: Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Tosin, Hato, Lavia, Santos, Estevao, Palmer, Joao Pedro.

Subs: Sharman-Lowe, Acheampong, Sarr, Cucurella, Essugo, Caicedo, Garnacho, Kavuma-McQueen, Delap

Port Vale manager Jon Brady makes four changes from the side that lost 4-0 at Wycombe Wanderers as Rhys Walters, Liam Gordon, Ben Waine and Martin Sherif come in for Jordan Shipley, Jaheim Headley, George Hall and Ethon Archer.

Port Vale XI: Gauci, Hall, Gabriel, Garrity, Walter, Ojo, Gordon, Waine, Sherif, John, Humphreys.

Subs: Amos, Stocklet, Archer, Croasdale, Shipley, Campbell, Hal, Magloire, Gray

Ever since Liam Rosenior was appointed in January, there has always been an element of Chelsea fans who don't think Rosenior is the right man to take them forward - but losing their past four games in a row in all competitions has certainly not helped his cause.

Yes, you can say they have been beaten by European champions Paris St-Germain in two of those matches, but I still expected them to get a result at home to Newcastle and then Everton absolutely blew them away.

If Rosenior loses this tie too, then the alarm bells would really be ringing at Stamford Bridge. It is a game where he cannot afford to slip up, but I also feel like he needs a performance to go with the win everyone is expecting.

Wycombe beat Port Vale 4-0 on Saturday so Chelsea surely have to at least match that scoreline before they focus on the league again, with two more crucial home games coming up against Manchester City and Manchester United.

Vale are toiling at the bottom of League One and so far on this cup run I have wrongly predicted they will lose to Fleetwood, Bristol City and Sunderland.

The good news for Vale fans and their manager Jon Brady is that I am going to predict they will lose this time too.

Their aim will be to stay in the game as long as they can and try to nick a goal, but the circumstances mean Rosenior will probably pick a strong team and Chelsea will have too much quality for them.

Sutton's prediction: 4-0

Read the full predictions and have your say

There are three FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, including an all-Premier League clash, and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Manchester City v Liverpool (12:45)

• Chelsea v Port Vale (17:15)

• Southampton v Arsenal (20:00)

Kick-off times BST

Follow all of the action and reaction here

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It could be argued that the international break was a welcome one for Chelsea and their head coach Liam Rosenior. His players travelled to join their respective national teams seeking to forget four straight losses in all competitions.

It's the first time since May 2023 that Chelsea have suffered such a lengthy losing streak and a reset, or at least a refresh, appears necessary.

Back-to-back Premier League defeats by Newcastle and Everton - games where Chelsea failed to score or even impress - were straddled by a humiliating 8-2 aggregate thrashing by Paris St-Germain in the Champions League last 16.

Rosenior's last victory came in this competition at Wrexham and a home quarter-final against League One's bottom side Port Vale should provide the perfect tonic to the club's current malaise.

This quarter-final represents something of a free hit for the Staffordshire side and they have already defeated Premier League opponents Sunderland to reach this stage. However, the occasion will be tempered by the very obvious threat of relegation and by the time they return to EFL action against Rotherham on Tuesday night they could be up to 20 points from safety with eight games remaining.

Chelsea's cup record is also worthy of envy and they've progressed from 64 of their previous 66 FA Cup ties against lower league opposition, only losing to Barnsley at Oakwell in 2008 and Bradford City at home in 2015 during that run.

That's a 97% success rate for the Blues in these fixtures and probability suggests a 28th FA Cup semi-final and a visit to Wembley for Rosenior and his side.

Did you know?

• The gap of 62 league places between Chelsea and Port Vale is the third largest at this stage of the competition since the start of the century. Only Brighton versus League Two Grimsby Town in 2023 (76 places) and Arsenal against National League Lincoln City in 2017 (88 places) had a bigger gulf and both of those ties resulted in a 5-0 victory for the top-flight side

• Chelsea are vying to reach the FA Cup semi-final without facing a top-flight opponent for the fourth time in the competition's current format (from 1925-26). It would be the joint-most of any side, level with Tottenham.

• Joao Pedro has scored seven goals in his past seven FA Cup games. Six of these goals have been since the start of 2023-24, with no player netting more in the competition during that period