Sawt Falasteen - Fernandez apologised over comments about his future: Chelsea's Rosenior

The Argentina midfielder, linked with Real Madrid, fuelled speculation by telling a podcast during the recent international break that he would like to live in the Spanish capital.

The 25-year-old, who has a contract at Stamford Bridge until 2032, was dropped for last week's FA Cup quarter-final win against Port Vale and the Premier League fixture against Manchester City on Sunday.

"I've had a really good conversation myself, I've had three or four with Enzo," Rosenior said ahead of Chelsea's match against second-placed City. "He's apologised to me, he's apologised to the club."

"It's a serious meeting about something very serious," he added. "I said every single step along this way, I'm not questioning Enzo's character, I'm not questioning who he is as a person.

"I believe people make mistakes, and you can't overstep the punishment for the mistake.

"I think we've made a sanction, we made a decision, I made a decision, and what I want for Enzo is for him to go on here and have an outstanding career."

Rosenior said that the punishment would remain in place despite the apology from Fernandez, who is the club's vice-captain.

"He won't play on Sunday but hopefully after that he'll be a massive part of the group moving forward," he said.

"There's still a few hurdles that need to be overcome that I won't go into. But at the same time, I want every player really, really focused now on a huge run-in".

Rosenior denied that the club, sixth in the table and chasing Champions League qualification for next season, were shooting themselves in the foot by omitting Fernandez against City.

"Football is a team sport, it's not about individuals," he said. "It's not about shooting yourself in the foot.

"There are certain values and cultures that I believe in, that this club believes in, that makes the team stronger if you get that right."

V.AbuAwwad--SF-PST