Chelsea has finally agreed to pay a British record fee to sign Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez, know his salary, contract, transfer fee and jersey number
After weeks of talks that got even more intense on the last day, the west London club made a deal around 10 p.m., making Fernandez the most expensive player to sign in the history of the Premier League.
The club has agreed to pay £105 million for the Argentine World Cup winner. This is more than what Manchester City paid for Jack Grealish, who was bought for £100 million.
Enzo Fernandez Chelsea salary, contract details, transfer fee, jersey number
But the Blues have less than an hour to finish the deal and turn in all the necessary paperwork. They can ask for more time by putting forward a deal sheet before the deadline. A deal sheet shows that negotiations are over and an agreement has been reached. It also gives clubs an extra hour to finish the deal.
Chelsea will pay €127m for the Benfica midfielder, with the Blues paying €7m more than his release clause in return for being able to pay his fee in three installments and this will make the 21-year-old the most expensive player in Chelsea’s history, surpassing the previous highest fee of €115m for Romelu Lukaku from Inter in 2021.
Fernandez has signed a mammoth 8.5-year contract at Chelsea worth £315,000-a-week, per Capology and that means he will will earn a crazy £139m over the course of his contract.
Fernandez joined Benfica for €18m last summer from River Plate and enjoyed six excellent months at the club and River Plate will receive 25 per cent the transfer fee Chelsea pay for Fernandez.
Enzo Fernández to Chelsea… HERE WE GO! Agreement reached right now between Chelsea & Benfica 🚨🔵🇦🇷 #CFC #DeadlineDay
Important: clubs running to get the documents signed before end of the window, it’s finally agreed.
Boarding set to be completed — London ✈️ @TurkishAirlines pic.twitter.com/YGwY4QGseQ
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 31, 2023
Benfica was adamant that Fernandez wouldn’t be sold unless his release clause of £105 million was paid in full, but Chelsea was able to convince the Portuguese club to take the fee in instalments. Some people thought that the payments could be spread out over as long as five years. This is because Chelsea can’t pay a big fee right now because of Financial Fair Play rules.
Enzo Fernández, new Chelsea player! All documents are signed between the clubs with Benfica and player side on contract valid until June 2031 ✅🔵🇦🇷 #CFC
Medical tests, done.
Payment in 6 installments — but £40m upfront. Boehly, Eghbalix board did it after mad 24h.
Here we go. pic.twitter.com/0wgbwYqU2c
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 31, 2023
But the final deal says that Benfica will get the fee in three parts over the next two years. As with other January signings, Fernandez will sign a long-term deal that lets Chelsea spread out the £105 million fee over a longer period of time to get around FFP rules.
Enzo Fernandez’s journey has been amazing
The 22-year-old agreed to personal terms almost a month ago. He moved to Benfica from River Plate in the summer, but he has been getting great reviews in Lisbon. He was especially good at the World Cup.
Fernandez was named the tournament’s best young player and was a key part of Argentina’s win. Chelsea thinks he can be a key part of their midfield for the next 10 years. With the signing of Fernandez, Chelsea will have spent more than £250 million on players in January. This is one of the biggest spending sprees on players that the Premier League has ever seen.
Before the deadline on Tuesday, the club had already signed Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, and a few promising young players. They also paid a huge loan fee to Atletico Madrid to get Joao Felix until the end of the season.
Earlier in the day, Chelsea sold Jorginho to Arsenal for £12 million. He only had six months left on his contract. Chelsea also briefly considered offers for Conor Gallagher.
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