News today

Feb 1, 2023 14:15

Chelsea have signed the Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez for £106.8m from Benfica

Chelsea have signed the Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for a British-record £106.8m surpassing the £100m Manchester City paid for Jack Grealish from Aston Villa 18 months ago.

The 22-year-old, who only joined Benfica last summer for around £10m, has signed an eight-and-a-half-year deal at Stamford Bridge to keep him at the club until the summer of 2031. Chelsea had been in talks to sign the World Cup winner throughout January, but Benfica had refused to do business unless the Blues paid his €120m release clause.

But Chelsea agreed a deal of €121m at 9.15pm on Deadline Day after 12 hours of talks led by Chelsea's co-owner Behdad Eghbali from London.

Fernandez was left out of Benfica's squad for their game against Arouca on Tuesday night, with the 22-year-old undergoing a medical in Portugal ahead of his switch to Stamford Bridge.

The Argentine will help to replace Jorginho, who joined Chelsea's London rivals Arsenal on Deadline Day in a £12m deal.

The young midfielder starred for Argentina in Qatar at the end of last year as they were crowned world champions and he was named the tournament’s best young player by FIFA, completing an outstanding 2022 in which he had caught the eye with a string of impressive performances for Benfica during his debut European campaign.

Todd Boehly, Chelsea chairman, and Behdad Eghbali, co-controlling owner, said: ‘In Enzo we are signing a World Cup-winner and one of the brightest talents in global football. We are excited to add him to Graham’s squad and we are sure he will form an important part of our team going forward. Enzo has demonstrated his ability at the very highest levels so we’re looking forward to seeing what he will do in Chelsea blue!’
Welcome to Stamford Bridge, Enzo!

Following the arrival of Fernandez, Chelsea spent £323.3m in January. Here are the deals the Blues made: