Benfica president Rui Costa has no regrets over sanctioning Enzo Fernandez's record-breaking move to Chelsea, saying the World Cup winner forced the transfer through his desire to leave.
Chelsea made Fernandez the most expensive acquisition in Premier League history on the final day of the January transfer window, meeting the £106.8million (€121m) release clause in his Benfica contract.
While Fernandez's arrival took Chelsea's spending to a reported £288.5m in January alone, the fee surpassed the £100m Manchester City spent to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa in 2021.
Benfica coach Roger Schmidt said Fernandez was unsettled by Chelsea's interest earlier in the month, and Costa admits the player's desire to leave left the Lisbon giants powerless.
"Everything was done to ensure that Enzo was not sold. I have a clear conscience and I am as sad as any Benfica fan," Costa told BTV on Thursday.
"We tried everything. Enzo has always shown a desire not to stay at Benfica.
"As a fan, I no longer wanted Enzo as a player. As president, he could not continue. I decided he had to leave.
"Commitment to Benfica is not beating your chest. In Arouca [a 3-0 win on Tuesday] we played without Enzo.
"We lost a great player, but I will not cry for a player who did not want to stay at Benfica. I was raised at Benfica, knowing how to honour Benfica.
"Respecting Enzo, he is free to choose and the choice was not to stay at Benfica. At Benfica, there will only be players who are proud to be here."
Costa questioned Fernandez's unwillingness to remain in Portugal until the end of the season, saying any suitors would have waited for the 22-year-old.
"Was Enzo going to lose value until the end of the season at Benfica? No," he continued.
"We tried to show him that if he stayed at Benfica until the end of the season, Chelsea and others would appear."
While the last-minute nature of Fernandez's exit left Benfica unable to sign a replacement, Costa was ultimately pleased with the structure of the deal.
Asked about Fernandez's record-breaking fee, Costa said: "It's in instalments. The value of the clause doesn't have to be paid upfront.
"We reached what we wanted and came out five million above the clause. It was not by chance that this deal ran out of time, we did everything to keep Enzo."
Simeone delighted with Le Normand return after traumatic brain injury
Diego Simeone was delighted that he was able to welcome defender Robin Le Normand back to the starting XI for Atletico Madrid's 3-1 Copa del Rey victory over Cacereno.
Le Normand had not played since his side's 1-1 draw at home to city rivals Real Madrid in September, in which he suffered a severe head injury following a collision with Aurelien Tchouameni and required extensive treatment on the pitch.
Thursday's match against fourth-tier opposition was his ninth appearance since joining the club from Real Sociedad in the summer and Simeone was pleased to see the Spain international back on the pitch.
"We are very happy that he is back with the team," Simeone said.
"It is normal that he needs that time to get back to playing, he will need that time playing, training and competing to be at his best. We are waiting for him and we need him, he is a very important player for us."
The match itself was not as straightforward as Atleti would have liked, having gone a goal down after half an hour.
It took an 83rd-minute Clement Lenglet goal to draw level before an effort from Julian Alvarez and an Adri Perez own-goal in stoppage time secured Atleti's passage through to the next round.
Having taken until the 81st minute to get ahead in their 2-0 victory over sixth-tier Vic in the previous round, Simeone explained he had been expecting it to be a tough test.
"We had been through it with Vic. They are not easy, Girona, Villarreal, Espanyol have been eliminated. It is not easy. The teams have enormous enthusiasm, they work together as a team, they get a goal that raises their enthusiasm. It is not easy to keep it up until the end," he said.
"The game was as expected, a great cup game, with a very hard-working opponent. When you show little decisiveness you run the risk of losing. We have to improve in that part."
Wiegman hails England's 'solid' defence against USA
Sarina Wiegman praised England's defensive work in an "intense" game against the United States after they played out a 0-0 draw at Wembley.
The Lionesses struggled to find their rhythm in attack, managing just four shots throughout the game, with only one of those on target – a Leah Williamson header in the 55th minute.
However, they also limited the USA to just three shots on target, with Mary Earps the standout performer as she helped to keep the Olympic champions at bay.
After losing their last friendly at Wembley 4-3 to Germany, Wiegman was pleased to see a marked improvement as England step up their preparation for Euro 2025.
"This shows where we are at, and we need to keep improving," Wiegman told ITV. "It is November now. This is good, but we want to be better again. We have to be better again.
"I thought it was a very intense game. Of course, we know the USWNT is very dynamic [and] explosive in going forward.
"Our defence was solid, we were defending as a team, very strong. They challenged us on the wings; I think we solved that well, and in the box, we defended that pretty good. I'm happy with the team performance."
The visitors thought they had scored a winner at the start of the second half, only for Lindsey Horan's finish to be ruled out for offside.
They were also awarded a penalty in the 65th minute for an Alex Greenwood handball, though VAR overturned it after replays showed it hitting her torso.
The USA are now unbeaten in each of their last 20 friendly matches (W17 D3), keeping a clean sheet in 16 of those matches.
Emma Hayes also maintained her unbeaten start on her homecoming and was proud of how her team performed.
"When you have to play England, especially after the defeat to Germany, we knew there was going to be a reaction to that performance," Hayes told ITV.
"I got the chance to see so many younger, less experienced players. It is so important because we are building towards something. I am proud of the way we imposed ourselves on the game. Generally, I am pleased with the performance.
"We had a goal disallowed, it was never a penalty, but you saw the entries into the final third it was us more than them. We are at a developmental stage, and I am proud of the way we played. In the Olympics, I saw some composure in our play. I am proud.
"You've got two top teams. Sarina's an amazing coach. It was a good tactical match-up. I just enjoy coaching. I live in football matches, to be honest with you."
Maresca makes Sancho and Mudryk game-time vow ahead of busy Chelsea schedule
Enzo Maresca has vowed the likes of Jadon Sancho and Mikhailo Mudryk will get plenty of minutes for Chelsea in the coming weeks after impressing in the 2-0 win over Heidenheim.
It was England winger Sancho who assisted Mudryk for the Blues' second in Thursday's Conference League fixture after Christopher Nkunku scored a second-half opener at the Voith-Arena.
Neither player has been a regular for the Blues in the Premier League, with Maresca mixing up his options between Premier League duties and domestic and European competition ventures.
But as the English calendar reaches a busy festive schedule, Chelsea boss Maresca said both players will get their fair share of action.
He told a news conference: "I said since we start, Jadon is very important for us. He has to be fit, mentally and physically and he is going to help us a lot.
"Unfortunately we did not use him in the last few games but he is showing tonight how important he is. We need that quality in the last third against a low block. He is going to help us a lot.
"He's (Mudryk) one of the players I just mentioned. It's difficult to find players tonight that didn't play well. We need all of them taking the chances when they get the chances.
"They all want to play more; they all deserve to play and are working fantastic. We are going to share minutes in the next games because we have so many games and it's the normal thing to do."
Chelsea lead the league phase of the competition and are on the brink of the last 16. Maresca praised the mentality his side showed to stay perfect in the competition.
"It was a very good challenge for all the aspects, they were high pressing, intense, but no matter what they do, it's important we are ready," he added.
"It's important to continue with that mentality."
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