Chelsea have agreed to sign Enzo Fernandez from Benfica and will meet the midfielder’s €120 million (£105m) release clause, according to ESPN sources.
Fernandez will move to Chelsea for a Premier League-record transfer fee with a contract that runs through 2031, the sources added. The 22-year-old impressed for Argentina as they won the 2022 World Cup and was named the Young Player of the Tournament.
ESPN reported on Monday that Fernandez had already agreed personal terms with Chelsea and was pushing the Portuguese club hard to reach an agreement with the Blues.
He becomes Chelsea’s seventh signing of a busy January transfer window, following Benoit Badiashile, David Datro Fofana, Andrey Santos, Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke and Malo Gusto into the club.
The deal breaks the previous Premier League record fee of £100m that Manchester City paid for Jack Grealish when he joined from Aston Villa in 2021.
Benfica boss Roger Schmidt was not keen on seeing Fernandez leave, but had previously said their hands would be tied if a club paid the player’s release clause.
Fernandez moved from Argentine side River Plate to Benfica in 2022 and has played 29 times in all competitions, scoring four goals and grabbing seven assists.
If confirmed, Fernandez’s transfer would take Chelsea’s total outlay on players since last year’s takeover by an investment group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital to more than £500m.
Chelsea are 10th in the Premier League, 10 points adrift of a top-four spot. They next host local rivals Fulham on Friday.
Information from Reuters was used in this story.
