Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez faces a tight turnaround for next week’s trip to Nottingham Forest after Argentina’s friendly against Puerto Rico was rescheduled.
Argentina had been due to play Puerto Rico in Chicago on Monday night, but the match has been moved to Florida and will now take place a day later.
An official announcement has not yet been made, but Chicago Park District spokesman Luca Serra confirmed to The Associated Press (AP) on Wednesday that plans for the game had changed.
“Yes, confirming that the Argentina against Puerto Rico match has been cancelled in Chicago,” he said. “The promoter made the decision this morning due to low ticket sales.”
An Argentine Football Association (AFA) executive told AP the move was because of unrest in Chicago, where President Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard to quell protests against the immigration crackdown.
News agency Reuters report that the friendly, originally set for Monday at Soldier Field, will now take place on Tuesday at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, home of Argentina captain Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.
The news is a blow for Chelsea because it means that Fernandez will have a shorter turnaround going into next week’s trip to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, which is a 12:30pm BST kick off on Saturday, October 18.
A kick-off time for Argentina’s rescheduled friendly has not yet been announced, but it was originally due to be at 7pm local time in Chicago.
If it were to stay at that time, Fernandez would not finish playing the match against Puerto Rico until around 1am BST on Wednesday morning.
The midfielder would then face a flight back across the Atlantic, before getting ready for Saturday’s lunchtime game at the City Ground.
Chelsea are already sweating on the fitness of a number of players - including Joao Pedro, Moises Caicedo and Reece James - and so will be hoping that Fernandez recovers in time to feature at Forest.
Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, Andrey Santos, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo and Dario Essugo have also been nursing injuries, while Benoit Badiashile and Josh Acheampong were both forced off in the last-gasp win over Liverpool before the international break - a game for which Trevoh Chalobah was suspended.
