Chelsea have signed Enzo Fernandez in a UK-record £106.8m transfer deal.
Chelsea were in talks to sign the World Cup winner throughout January, but Benfica refused to do business until the Blues paid his €120m release clause.
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Chelsea have signed Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez for a UK record fee of £106.8m.
The deal for the Argentine exceeds the £100m Manchester City paid for Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish 18 months ago.
The 22-year-old, who joined Benfica just last summer for around £10m, has signed an eight-and-a-half-year deal at Stamford Bridge that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2031.
Premier League record purchases
- Enzo Fernandez – Benfica to Chelsea, January 2023 – £106.8m
- Jack Grealish – Aston Villa to Manchester City, Summer 2021 – £100m
- Romelu Lukaku – Inter to Chelsea, Summer 2021 – £97.5m
- Romelu Lukaku – Everton to Manchester United, summer 2017 – £90m
- Paul Pogba – Juventus to Manchester United, summer 2016 – £89m
- Mikhail Mudryk – Shakhtar to Chelsea, January 2022 – £88.5m
Chelsea were in talks to sign the World Cup winner throughout January, but Benfica refused to do business until the Blues paid his €120m release clause.
But Chelsea agreed to a €121m deal at 9:15 p.m. on deadline day after 12 hours of negotiations led by London-based Chelsea co-owner Behdad Egbali.
The Blues will pay a £30m down payment with the rest of the amount paid in five subsequent instalments.
Fernandes was not included in Benfica’s squad against Arouca on Tuesday night, and the 22-year-old was undergoing treatment in Portugal before moving to Stamford Bridge.
According to the Portuguese broadcaster SICFernandez will fly to the UK on Wednesday morning and the private jet will leave Lisbon Airport at 10:20.
Fernandez will help replace Jorginho, who joined Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal on deadline day. in a £12 million deal.
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Ron Walker from Sky Sports:
“The qualities of Fernandez clearly show how he can help. Just halfway through his first season at Benfica, he scored second in Primeira Liga and created 30 chances for his teammates, some of which were particularly eye-catching. the catch and amazing fine-tuning of Gonzalo Ramos against Sporting earlier this month is probably the best bet.
“It was this kind of playmaking potential that attracted Manchester City and Real Madrid last summer before he decided to move to Lisbon.
“No one in the Portuguese top flight has made more assists than the Argentine and if he does replace Jorginho at Stamford Bridge he will also provide something extra in the final third where he also tops the assists charts.
“If Chelsea want to play with a second midfielder, they will offer a better option here as well. Fernández has already taken charge off the ball at Benfica, regularly taking on the role of host. and only 10 players in the division made more play in the middle third of the field, despite his significant performance further down the field.
How much did Chelsea spend in January?
After Fernandes arrived, Chelsea spent £323.3m in January. Here are the deals the Blues made:
- Benoit Badiashiel – Monaco, £35 million
- David Datro Fofana – Molde, undisclosed (£10 million deal reported)
- Andrew Santos – Vasco da Gama, undisclosed (£18 million deal reported)
- Joao Felix – Atlético Madrid, £9.7m loan
- Mikhail Mudrik – Shakhtar (Donetsk), 88.5 million pounds.
- Noni Maduke – PSV Eindhoven £29m
- Little taste – Lyon, £26.3m
- Enzo Fernandez – Benfica, £106.8m
Chelsea spent more than £323m in this January transfer window after signing a British record deal for Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez – so how can they spend such huge sums and stay within financial fair play rules?
The UEFA FFP rules are designed to limit excessive spending, and there are also Premier League rules that limit the losses a club can incur over a three-year period. Large penalties or points deductions can be imposed as a punishment for clubs that do not comply with the rules.
But since the Blues have agreed to a £106.8m deal for Fernandez, new Chelsea co-owner Todd Boly has had to spend £600m since the takeover in May 2022 – and they appear to have stayed within the rules.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire spoke to Sky Sports News explain.
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