Benfica manager accuses Chelsea of being 'disrespectful' in their pursuit of Enzo Fernandez

Earlier this week, reports suggested that

is ready to activate the release clause of

worth £106 million and they already have reached an agreement with the Argentinian midfielder.

However, reports on Wednesday claimed that Chelsea attempted to negotiate a lower fee and this has made

angry over their negotiation tactics.

In his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Roger Schmidt claimed that Chelsea is disrespecting Benfica.

"We don't want to sell Enzo, neither I nor the president,"

he told reporters on Thursday.

"We all know he has a clause in his contract. If he wants to leave and if someone meets this clause, we can do nothing.

"There is a club that wants the player, that knows we don't want to sell, that tries to put the player on their side when they know that the only way to get him is to beat the clause.

"The situation is very clear. What that club is doing to try to sign Enzo is [showing] a lack of respect for Benfica.

"I cannot accept what they are doing. They try to drive the player crazy, pretending they're going to pay the clause and then say they want to negotiate.

"I think that's not the way for two clubs to have good relations."

Fernandez returned to Benfica’s training after the World Cup but he left Portugal without Benfica's permission last week. Schmidt said that he understands Fernandez’s feelings but he will face consequences for his behaviour.

"Enzo is a very good boy and a fantastic player. We like him very much and we want him to stay. But his situation is not easy,"

Schmidt explained.

"He played in a World Cup, was world champion and there's a lot of money on the table.

"A player can get confused when he thinks about it and I think it's a situation that everyone understands. He wasn't allowed to go to Argentina, he missed training and that's not acceptable. There will be consequences, I won't say what."

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