Chelsea have broken the British transfer record after signing 2022 World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez for a whopping €121 million.
Fernandez, 22, only joined Benfica in July for €15 million from River Plate and the Portuguese side included a massive €121 million release clause in his contract.
With Chelsea desperate to sign the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner with Argentina, Benfica insisted that his release clause will be met.
Late on Deadline Day both clubs finally had a breakthrough in negotiations around the payment structure of the deal, and the Blues now confirmed the signing of Fernandez, who is understood to have agreed to a deal until 2031.
Benfica confirmed the deal via a press release, while Chelsea are yet to announce their new record signing.
The 22-year-old was named Young Player of the Tournament at World Cup and made 29 appearances for Benfica this season already, scoring four goals and setting up another seven.
The fee of €121 million is a new British transfer record, breaking the previous one of Jack Grealish’s €117.5 million move from Aston Villa to Manchester City – with his former club River Plate receiving 25% of the fee due to a sell-on clause.
Fernandez is Chelsea’s eighth new signing of the winter transfer window, following Benoit Badiashile, Datro Fofana, Mykhailo Mudryk, Joao Felix, Noni Madueke, Andrey Santos and Malo Gusto, with the latter returning to Lyon on a six-month loan.
Overall, the Blues have now spent more than €610 million on new arrivals this season.
