Enzo Fernandez: Benfica boss criticises Chelsea pursuit of Argentina midfielder

Benfica manager Roger Schmidt has criticised Chelsea in their pursuit of Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez.

The Blues are in talks about signing the 21-year-old 2022 World Cup winner from the Portuguese club. Fernandez, who joined Benfica from River Plate in August 2022, has a release clause of about £106m.

“What the club is doing who wants Enzo, it’s disrespectful against all of us, against Benfica and I cannot accept what they are doing,” said Schmidt.

“To make the player crazy, and then to pretend they can pay the clause and later they want negotiate I think is not what I understand about a good relationship between clubs who maybe want to discuss about the player.”

Fernandez played 89 minutes for Benfica in a 3-0 defeat against SC Braga following his return to Portugal after playing a key part in helping Argentina win the World Cup.

“Enzo, we don’t want to sell him, nobody wants to sell him at this club,” said Schmidt. “Everybody knows he has a clause in his contract and, of course, if the player wants to leave and somebody comes and pays the clause we cannot work against that and so then maybe we will lose the player.

“There’s a club who want our player, they know we don’t want to sell the player, they tried to get the player on their side and they know that they only can get this player when they pay the clause so it’s a very clear situation.”

He added: “First of all Enzo is a very good boy and a fantastic football player. We like him a lot and, of course, we want that he stays at Benfica.

“Of course, the situation for him is not so easy because he played the World Cup, he became world champion, he got offers, and there’s a lot of money on the table.

“In this situation as a young player you think about that, [it can] confuse you a little bit. I think that everybody can understand but, nevertheless, he’s a very good boy.

“He was not there last week, he had no permission to go to Argentina. He missed the training so that is not acceptable [and] that’s why it will have consequences.”

Ahmed Musa unveils ultra-modern sports complex in Kaduna

Super Eagles captain and Nigerian star, Ahmed Musa, shared a video of the imposing, ultra-modern sports complex that he built and which was unveiled in Kaduna State.

On account of how frequently he has given back to society, the 30-year-old has managed to capture the hearts of many people in Nigeria and all across the world. The latest facility is situated in Kaduna, Kaduna State, Nigeria, in the Old Kamazo, Janruwa Layout, along the Yakowa motorway.

In the video of the complex that the former

Leicester City forward shared on Twitter, courts for badminton court, volleyball, lawn tennis, squash court, and a football field can all be seen with an embedded gymnasium to complete the top-of-the-line facilities.

Musa is a forward and left winger for the Nigerian national team as well as Sivasspor in the Turkish Super Lig. He is one of only three Nigerian centurions crossing the 100-cap mark, having played in 107 games so far, scoring 16 goals, and helping the Super Eagles to lifting the Africa Cup of Nations.

Novak Djokovic into Adelaide International last eight with win over Quentin Halys

Novak Djokovic earned a hard-fought win against Quentin Halys to move into the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International on Thursday.

The Serb rallied back from 5-2 down in the first set and 5-3 in the second to beat the Frenchman 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5).

Djokovic will face Canada’s Denis Shapovalov on Friday as he continues his build-up to the Australian Open.

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the second week of the Adelaide tournament with an ankle injury.

The 27-year-old also pulled out of last week’s United Cup and so will have had limited match time going into the Australian Open, which gets underway on 16 January.

The world number 22 could go into the first major tournament of the season having not played a singles match since an ATP event in Tokyo in October.

Meanwhile, Djokovic, who beat Kyrgios in the 2022 Wimbledon final, will be bidding for his

10th Australian Open title in an attempt to equal Rafael Nadal’s overall men’s Grand Slam record of 22.

The former world number one is set to miss this season’s Indian Wells and the Miami Open after the United States extended its requirement for international visitors to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Djokovic, who was deported prior to the 2022 Australian Open because of his Covid-19 vaccination status, said “it is what it is” when asked about the prospect of missing more tournaments.

“If it is official then it is. What can I do? Nothing,” the 35-yearold said.

“I’m hoping [to play], but if I can’t go, I can’t go.”

Seventh seed Shapovalov, Djokovic’s quarter-final opponent, raced through Thursday’s second-round Adelaide International tie with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Russian Roman Safiullin.