Chelsea signed World Cup winner Enzo Fernández from Benfica for a whopping $132 million, making him the most expensive footballer in UK history. The deal for the Argentine surpasses Manchester City’s $123 million bid to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa. The 22-year-old has signed an eight-and-a-half-year deal at Stamford Bridge that will see him play in Premier League soccer until the summer of 2031.
“I am grateful to Chelsea and its ownership for doing everything they could to make me a part of this project,” Fernandez said. “I’m happy and excited to join the Pride of London, to play in the best league in the world and to compete for the biggest trophies. I can’t wait to play in front of our fans and help my team-mates on and off the pitch.” Follow us for more accurate football prediction sites.
Fernandez is Chelsea’s eighth recruit in the mid-season transfer window. The Argentine international played a key role in Argentina’s World Cup-winning campaign in Qatar, starting and participating in each match, and contributing one of the goals in a crucial group-stage victory over Mexico. He won the Young Player Award to top off the competition.
Fernandez transferred from Argentine club River Plate to Benfica, where he has scored four goals in 29 games. In Europe, Fernandez has scored four goals and seven assists from his first 29 games in the Champions League. In fact, only four central midfielders have made more tackles than Fernandez’s 19 in the Champions League group stages. Earlier, the Portuguese club earlier refused to release Fernandez.
However, Chelsea agreed a deal on Deadline Day after 12 hours of talks led by Chelsea’s co-owner Behdad Eghbali from London. The Blues reportedly paid the first installment of £30m with the rest of the fee paid in five further installments. Fernandez is set to replace Jorginho, who joined Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal on Deadline Day.
“In Enzo we are signing a World Cup-winner and one of the brightest talents in global football,” Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly said. 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!”
Chelsea is currently 10th in the Premier League, 10 points away from a top four spot. They struggled to lift their standing under manager Graham Potter – who joined the club from Brighton in September after Thomas Tuchel sacking – and has won just two of the past 11 games. The Blues next face London rival Fulham in the Premier League.
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