Chelsea have dropped their vice-captain Enzo Fernández for the next two games after he appeared to flirt with Real Madrid during the international break.

The midfielder, who has been linked with a move to Real, offered his thoughts on the Spanish capital while on international duty with Argentina. He said: “I’d like to live in Madrid. It’s a beautiful city, reminds me of Buenos Aires.”

The Chelsea head coach, Liam Rosenior, said the comments had “crossed a line” and he had informed the 25-year-old of the ban on Friday morning.

Rosenior said: “I spoke with Enzo about an hour ago. As a football club, with me as part of the decision, he won’t be available for tomorrow’s game [the FA Cup quarter-final against Port Vale] or Manchester City next Sunday.

“It’s disappointing for Enzo to speak that way. I have got no bad words to say about him but a line was crossed in terms of our culture and what we want to build.”

Fernández has been regularly linked with a summer move to Real and he cast doubt over his future at Stamford Bridge, following their crushing Champions League last-16 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, telling ESPN Argentina “I...