Enzo Fernandez claims Chelsea U-turn over Olympics involvement as he issues Argentina apology

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Enzo Fernandez has issued an apology to Argentina after claiming that Chelsea have performed a U-turn on his Olympics participation this summer.

It was initially anticipated that the midfielder would possibly be heading to next month’s Paris Games as part of La Albiceleste’s Under-23s squad for the men’s football tournament, which begins on July 24.

However, reports earlier this month claimed that Chelsea would block Fernandez’s participation along with that of Ukraine’s Mykhailo Mudryk, currently at Euro 2024, with the Olympic competition not finishing until a week before the start of the new Premier League season in August.

It is said that the Blues want Fernandez to instead get some much-needed rest and recuperation after a long season in which he suffered from a nagging groin injury that required surgery in April and saw him miss the final six matches of the campaign before he joined up with the senior Argentina squad for the Copa America tournament in the United States, playing in friendlies against Ecuador and Guatemala before starting the 1-0 win over Chile in New Jersey on Tuesday that sealed their spot in the quarter-finals.

Fernandez had remained an unused substitute for Argentina’s opening win over Canada in Atlanta last week. They finish off the group stage against Peru in Florida at the weekend.

Malo Gusto and Benoit Badiashile also won’t be joining Chelsea team-mate Lesley Ugochukwu in the France Olympic squad, with clubs under no obligation by FIFA to release players for the Games.

Fernandez has now spoken out on Chelsea’s decision not to let him play in Paris, claiming that he was originally given the go-ahead by former boss and compatriot Mauricio Pochettino, before the arrival of successor Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge earlier this month led to a late change of heart.

The 23-year-old issued a public apology to Javier Mascherano, the former Liverpool, West Ham and Barcelona midfielder who is currently in charge of Argentina’s U20s and will be coaching their Olympic squad this summer.

“I did everything possible to be at the Olympics,” Fernandez told TYC Sports in Argentina. “Pochettino had given me the okay, there was a change of manager and the club changed its stance.

“I did everything possible to be there, I apologise to Masche [Mascherano], I wanted to be there, hopefully another time it will happen.”

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