EPL: Paul Scholes names club that’ll no longer win title this season

Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes believes Chelsea have damaged their chances of challenging for the Premier League title after allowing Enzo Fernandez to join Manchester City.

Manchester City completed the £125 million signing of Fernandez on transfer deadline day, making him one of the joint-most expensive players in Premier League history.

Fernandez joined Chelsea from Benfica for £107 million in 2023 and became an important player at Stamford Bridge. Although the midfielder had expressed a desire to leave earlier in the summer, Chelsea eventually agreed to sell him to City.

Manchester City continued negotiations after failing to meet Chelsea’s earlier £120 million deadline and finally completed the deal just hours before the transfer window closed.

Scholes admitted that he “wasn’t a massive fan” of Fernandez when he first arrived in England, but he has since changed his opinion and now considers him a “brilliant player” whose departure is a major blow to Chelsea.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, Scholes said: “I don’t think he was unhappy at Chelsea, but he had his head turned by Manchester City.

“But if Chelsea want to win the Premier League, which, look, I don’t think they can anyway, they shouldn’t have let Enzo Fernandez go.

“Recently, they had Malo Gusto in midfield, which is insufficient. Reece James has also been deployed in midfield, and that is not good enough.

“City have already had Chelsea’s pants down with the manager [Enzo Maresca]. They obviously unsettled him and were talking to him about coming in the summer.

“That ruined Chelsea’s season, really, because they were flying at the time; they were going really well. Enzo Fernandez’s move to Manchester City could potentially ruin Chelsea’s season again.”

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Chelsea were considered potential dark horses for the Premier League title this season, but Scholes believes losing Fernandez could prevent them from competing with defending champions Arsenal and the other leading contenders.