Former Chelsea Striker Wants Fernandez to Leave Club after Racism Song Allegation

A former Chelsea striker has claimed Enzo Fernandez ‘will never be forgiven at Stamford Bridge and must be sold’.

The Argentina midfielder has received heavy backlash for celebrations on a bus after his side beat Colombia 1-0 in the final of the competition to win their third major international trophy in a row.

Fernandez released a statement on social media on Tuesday stating he ‘stands against discrimination in all forms’ and that he apologises for ‘getting caught up in the euphoria of our Copa America celebrations’ after a video of members of the Argentina team on a bus went viral.

The statement came after a video appeared to show the Argentina players singing about how French players are ‘from Angola’ or have a ‘Nigerian’ mother and a ‘Cameroonian’ father.

Now, speaking on TalkSport, Tony Cascarino has said: ‘It’s going to be tricky. I look back at when I was at Chelsea in the 90s and I’m not sure that the dressing room would be okay with what Enzo Fernandez did.

‘That’s a tricky one to handle. I think Chelsea have got a major decision on whether they keep Enzo Fernandez.

‘Having players not happy with a guy in the dressing room, I’m not sure there will be many that comfortable with some of the things that have gone on.

‘There’s no excuse for that to go out. It’s not going to sit well with the other players, is it?

‘I don’t know how you can handle it because there will be players who can’t forgive. There might be some who can move on despite not liking what happened.

‘You don’t need everyone to like each other at a club but this is a tricky one. Some players won’t want to move on or make it work.

‘He’s going to have to apologise to the squad face-to-face as well and maybe then there will be a bit more forgiveness.’ 

Recordings of Fernandez’s video show the team seemingly at least singing the Angola portion of the song while he grins, though he ends it before they reach the part relating to Kylian Mbappe.

Fernandez had been filming before Argentina’s players started singing the song but ended the Instagram live seconds after the racist chant began.

The song first emerged around the 2022 World Cup, when Argentina beat France in the final on penalties in Qatar.

Chelsea is conducting their probe after the man they spent a British-record £107million on in January 2023 found himself at the centre of a storm. Sources at Chelsea say they are taking the matter seriously and will proceed accordingly.