Chelsea have signed Enzo Fernandez for £106.8m – breaking records for Britain’s biggest-ever transfer fee.
The Argentinian midfielder played a key role in his country’s 2022 World Cup win and scooped the competition’s best young player award.
Fernandez, 22, will make the move from Portuguese side Benfica.
The deal breaks the previous record of £100m, paid by Manchester City to Aston Villa for England star Jack Grealish in August 2021.
It means Chelsea have now spent more than £300m on transfers in January, including securing an £88.5m deal for Ukrainian forward Mykhailo Mudryk.
Fernandez was left out of Benfica’s squad for their game against Arouca on Tuesday night – and underwent a medical in Portugal ahead of his switch to Stamford Bridge.
According to Portuguese broadcaster SIC, Fernandez will fly to the UK this morning, with a private jet scheduled to leave Lisbon airport at 10.20am.
Fernandez will help to replace Jorginho, who joined Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal on Deadline Day in a £12m deal.
The financial gulf between English and European football has never been more stark
The football financial gulf between England and the rest of Europe has been stark in the January transfer window.
Premier League clubs spent about £650m combined on strengthening squads for the second half of the season.
Teams in the next biggest leagues – Spain, Italy, Germany and France – spent less than £200m combined.
It’s an indicator of the wealth of English football, underpinned by television income (of which Sky News owner Comcast is a large contributor).
Splashing the cash so freely reflects the desire for instant success. Particularly at Chelsea.
No club has spent more in a year than the Blues – £600m. Half has been splurged in the January window – more than spending in the rest of Europe combined.
This is the biggest deal in the history of British football – and Chelsea have spent more money on transfers than all the other clubs in the major European leagues put together: Germany, Spain, Italy and France.
Overall, Chelsea have spent almost £600m on new players since a recent change of ownership.
