Chelsea announce signing of mega Enzo Fernandez as £106.8m fee smashes UK transfer record on deadline day
Helsea have announced a new club and British record transfer with the signing of Enzo Fernandez on the day of the £106.8million transfer deadline.
A truly eventful January window has been capped off in style by the Blues as the month’s eighth reinforcement arrives to bolster Graham Potter’s squad.
Benfica have long demanded the full buyout clause be met to allow World Cup winner Fernandez to leave, just six months after signing him for a tenth of that price.
Chelsea shelled out €121m (£106.8m) with an upfront fee of around £34m before several installments. The player signed a contract until 2031.
The 22-year-old caught the attention of the footballing world when he won the best young player award in Qatar earlier this winter, and now joins Chelsea’s ailing push for a top four finish.
More than 90 minutes after Tuesday’s transfer deadline, the deal was confirmed with a statement from Benfica after Chelsea hinted at its completion with an Argentine flag on their Instagram profile.
Benfica said: “In a statement sent to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM) at 00:13 this Wednesday, February 1, Benfica informed that it has reached an agreement with Chelsea for the sale of all rights to player Enzo Fernandez. , for a sum of 121 million euros.
“Benfica also explained that Chelsea will have the right to retain the 3.78% solidarity mechanism for subsequent distribution to clubs that were involved in the player’s training.
“In addition, Benfica will incur a fee for the intermediation services of 6.56% of the sale value deducted from the solidarity amount and will also have to remit to River Plate the amount corresponding to 25% of the transfer value deducted from the amounts of solidarity and intermediation. provision of services.”
Chelsea’s previous record signing was the £97.5m capture of Romelu Lukaku 18 months ago, the same summer as Jack Grealish’s British record £100m move to Manchester City.
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