Why is Enzo Fernandez not playing? Explaining Chelsea star's absence vs. Manchester City due to suspension

With seven matches remaining in the Premier League campaign, Chelsea are in a vicious battle to secure a qualifying place for European football next season.

The Blues currently sit sixth in the domestic standings, four points behind fifth-placed Liverpool occupying the final Champions League position in the table.

Thus, every match remaining is critical if they are to recover their spot in Europe's top competition, especially their upcoming heavyweight meeting with second-placed Man City on Sunday.

In such an important game, Chelsea will be without in-form playmaker Enzo Fernandez in midfield, who has five goal contributions in Premier League play since the calendar turned to 2026.

The Sporting News explains why the self-inflicted absence will keep Fernandez out of the squad for this massive fixture and what the Argentine's future is with the club both short-term and long.

MORE: All the latest Chelsea team news and injury updates ahead of the match against Man City

Where is Enzo Fernandez?

Enzo Fernandez is not in the Chelsea squad to face Manchester City on April 12.

The Argentine has been benched by Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior, who said that Fernandez would not be in the Chelsea squad for the club's first two matches back from the March international break.

He was already absent from the squad for the 7-0 victory over Port Vale in the FA Cup last weekend, and will now miss this game against Man City as well.

Why was Enzo Fernandez suspended by Chelsea?

While speaking to Argentine media over the March international break, Enzo Fernandez appeared open to a move to Real Madrid this summer.

Fernandez has a contract with Chelsea that runs through 2032, leaving him firmly under club control for the foreseeable future, yet he spoke openly about his immediate future potentially being at another club.

When asked if he would be at Chelsea next season, he said to ESPN Argentina, "I don’t know – there are eight games left and the FA Cup. There’s the World Cup and then we’ll see." He followed that up by saying there has been no specific contact with Real Madrid.

After that, while discussing his future on a podcast with Argentine personality Marcos Giles of Luzu TV, when asked if he would consider living in the Spanish capital — a pointed question given recent speculation about interest from Real Madrid — he said, "Yes, of course...I really like Madrid - it's similar to Buenos Aires."

Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior did not take kindly to this suggestion that Fernandez is not fully committed to the team's cause.

"It's disappointing for Enzo to speak that way," Rosenior said after announcing the suspension. "I've got no bad words to say about him but a line was crossed in terms of our culture and what we want to build.

"The door is not closed on Enzo. It's a sanction. You have to protect the culture, and in terms of that, a line was crossed."

Rosenior suggested that they are hoping Fernandez would return to the squad for Chelsea's next game against Man United, but cryptically said that was not a definite outcome. 

"There's still a few hurdles that need to be overcome that I won't go into," Rosenior said ahead of the Man City match, "but at the same time I want every player really, really focused now on a huge run-in."

When asked to expand on what he meant by the 'hurdles that need to be overcome', Rosenior remained tight-lipped. "No. There are still things in the air that I won't speak about now."

Was there a player revolt at Chelsea over Enzo Fernandez suspension?

After the suspension was announced prior to the Port Vale match, there were suggestions in the media that the Chelsea squad was upset by the suspension for Fernandez.

According to Argentine journalist Veronica Brunati, multiple players within the Chelsea squad had asked Rosenior to lift the suspension to allow Fernandez to participate in the match against Man City. Brunati then followed up to state that Fernandez's camp believe that Rosenior would not lift the suspension, and he was always likely to remain on the sideline.

Rosenior denied this report in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Man City match, saying it's "not true" that players came to him and requested the suspension be reversed.

"Football is a team sport. It's not about individuals. It's not about shooting yourself in the foot," Rosenior said. "There are certain values and cultures that I believe in, that this club believe in that makes the team stronger if you get that right."

Fernandez's agent Javier Pastore also publicly denounced the suspension, calling it "completely unfair" before revealing that the player had apologised to the squad.

Rosenior also stated that Fernandez apologised to the squad, claiming that he personally had "three or four" conversations with the Argentine about the situation.