After a weeks-long transfer soap, Chelsea managed to take over Enzo Fernández from Benfica in the last hours of Deadline Day. The midfielder is taken away from the Portuguese for 121 million euros, making it the most expensive purchase ever for a Premier League club.
The 22-year-old Fernández signs a contract for 8.5 years with Chelsea. Only an hour before the transfer deadline expired, various media reported that the much-discussed transfer would be complete. The final formalities were completed on time.
Chelsea ended the transfer soap that lasted all month at the very last minute. Due to a clause in his contract, Fernández could be taken over for a fixed transfer fee of around 120 million euros. Chelsea did not want to comply at first, while Benfica refused to negotiate the transfer fee. Fernández had just set his sights on a transfer.
The vicissitudes angered Benfica coach Roger Schmidt, who called Chelsea’s behavior “disrespectful”. “Chelsea says they can afford the clause. By driving him crazy that way, they are trying to get Fernández on their side. And later they want to negotiate that clause. I cannot accept that,” said the former PSV coach .
Now that the transfer does go through, Fernández can call himself the most expensive Premier League purchase ever. The record was held by Manchester City, who deposited 117.5 million for Jack Grealish in the summer of 2021. Fernández is the sixth most expensive player of all time. That list is still led by Neymar. Paris Saint-Germain spent 222 million euros on the Brazilian attacker.
Fernandez has not played for Benfica for less than a year
Fernández was only working on his first season with Benfica, which took him over from the Argentinian River Plate for 14 million euros last summer. The defensive midfielder was one of the key players in Schmidt’s success squad. Benfica qualified as group winner for the eighth finals of the Champions League and is the sovereign leader in Portugal.
At the World Cup in Qatar, Fernández played further in the spotlight at the end of last year. The ten-time international took part in all Argentina’s matches and thus made an important contribution to the first world title of ‘La Albiceleste’ since 1986.
Before the arrival of Fernández, Chelsea had already spent more than 200 million euros in this transfer window. In January, ‘The Blues’ brought PSV striker Noni Madueke, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Benoit Badiashile to Stamford Bridge, among others.
With that quality boost, Chelsea hopes to take revenge for the disappointing first half of the season. The Londoners are only tenth in the Premier League, 21 points behind leaders Arsenal. Chelsea will face Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
