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."
Arsenal handed BK Hacken reunion, Man City to face Paris FC in Women's Champions League
Arsenal, Manchester City and Celtic found out their opponents for the Women's Champions League qualifying second round on Monday.
All three will play the first leg away from home, with Jonas Eidevall's side, who beat Rangers and Rosenborg to reach this stage of the tournament, facing BK Hacken.
The Swedish side reached the quarter-finals last year for the first time in the competition since the 2012-13 edition.
BK Hacken also played Arsenal in the last eight of the tournament during the 2011-12 season, with the Gunners winning 3-2 on aggregate.
Man City kickstart their Champions League campaign after finishing second in the Women's Super League last term against Paris FC.
The French side beat Real Madrid home and away last year but finished third in a group that contained Chelsea and BK Hacken.
Celtic were the only British team to be involved in the Champions Path draw and will face Ukrainian champions Vorskla Poltava.
The first legs of the two-legged ties will take place on September 18 and 19, with the returns on September 25 and 26.
Those that emerge victorious in the round-two qualifying fixtures will progress to the group stages of the competition, joining Barcelona, Lyon, Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
Fixture congestion concerns Arsenal boss Eidevall
Jonas Eidevall is unhappy with the level of care shown by UEFA and the Women's Super League when it comes to the fixture schedule.
Arsenal beat Rosenborg 1-0 on Saturday to seal their place in the second round of qualifying for the Women's Champions League.
They will face either Juventus, BK Hacken, Paris FC, Fiorentina or Sporting CP in a two-legged tie.
Those matches will take place on either 18-19 September and 25-26 September, which means Arsenal will play five matches in the space of two-and-a-half weeks when factoring in the start of the WSL campaign.
From next season, English clubs will avoid the mini-league qualifying format as UEFA introduces a new structure, and Eidevall, whose team also played on Wednesday, believes the current guise is damaging to player welfare.
"Now we're through it, I can say it – it's lucky an English team will not have to play in these mini-tournaments again. For all the excitement, it is a relic from the past," said Eidevall.
"This is just done from a budget perspective. That’s why they cram it in on Saturdays, to save another hotel night [by playing on a Sunday].
"All research around the world shows there’s a massive difference between 72 hours and 96 hours recovery after a game. That part, I just can't get my head around.
"That's just science. WSL has zero concerns about it, UEFA has zero concerns about it. It impacts injury risk. It's the same in the men's game.
"It's just that science is one thing and broadcasting money is another thing.
"You always need to get on with things. It's not an excuse, it's just scientific."
Arsenal kick-off their WSL season against Manchester City on September 22.
Jesse Marsch: I'd much rather coach Canada than USA
Jesse Marsch is thrilled to be coaching Canada rather than the United States.
Marsch got one over on his home nation, who he played for twice and was also an assistant coach, as Canada won 2-1 in Kansas City on Saturday.
The friendly victory, which came courtesy of goals from Jacob Shaffelburg and Jonathan David, marked Canada's first success on US soil since 1957.
While USA floundered at this year's Copa America, their 2026 World Cup co-hosts reached the semi-finals under Marsch's guidance, and the former Leeds United and RB Leipzig coach reiterated his happiness that he is in charge of Canada rather than the Stars and Stripes, who are in a state of flux following Gregg Berhalters' dismissal.
"I'd much rather coach Canada than the U.S. right now," Marsch said.
"You can see the mentality that's been developed. You can see the way this team plays.
"You can see how much they love playing for the national team and they're willing to put their careers and lives and the way they play on the line to be the best they can be for each other and for the team.
"I wouldn't change coaching this team right now for anything in the world."
Berhalter's former assistant Mikey Varas took charge of USA on Saturday, Mauricio Pochettino is soon expected to take charge.
Luca de la Torre pulled one back for USA to set up a grandstand finish, but Canada held firm to seal a victory Marsch believed they were well worthy of.
"Of course I enjoyed it," said Marsch, whose team had 17 shots to USA's eight.
"I was certain that we would play well. I wasn't certain that we would win but I was certain we would play well."
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