Following the end of the transfer window, Benfica announced that their president Rui Costa would give the club’s channels an interview about the market. Since then, there’s been big expectation from the local media about that, especially because of what he’d say about Enzo Fernandez’s sale to Chelsea.
The conversation was finally aired, and when speaking of that particular deal with the Blues, the Eagles’ chief made it very clear that their intention had always been to hold Enzo Fernandez at the club.
“Everything was done so that the sale did not take place. There’s all the data on the table that shows just that. I have a clear conscience because I did the best for Benfica within this whole process,” said Rui Costa (via A Bola).
“From day one we tried not to sell Enzo in the middle of the year and I said I wouldn’t sell below the clause value. We tried everything not to sell him! From the beginning, Enzo didn’t want to stay and he showed that will.”
Regarding Chelsea triggering the release clause or not, the president explained that there was never the need for it, since that price is a symbolic way of telling the player how much he can leave for.
“The termination clause is triggered in case of dispute with the club. If one of our rivals came to try to take the player, everything would be done, which did not happen in this case. Clause value is the sum which means the agreement between the club and the player so that, if a proposal of that value arrives, the player can decide whether he wants to stay or leave. From the beginning we feared that Chelsea would bring the value of the clause.”
Rui Costa also revealed that they tried to give Fernandez a pay rise, but that was nothing compared to what Chelsea offered to him. He also claims that the player’s wish was crucial for the transfer to happen now.
“We tried everything to keep him, even a salary increase… That proposal was made for him to stay. The proposal that the player had was completely unfeasible, even half of it. We realise that financially powerful clubs have the ability to entice the player in another way. In Portugal we have difficulty in keeping up with these proposals. I was a player, who am I not to realise that? Enzo is an extraordinary player. Would he lose value at Benfica by the end of the year? We tried everything to make him realise that at the end of the season it wouldn’t just be Chelsea showing up! We were never able to convince him.”
With Benfica having another great transfer window, they made €128m with sales, and spent €16m.
