Enzo Fernandez, a midfielder, has been acquired by Chelsea from Benfica for a British-record fee of 106.8 million British Pounds.
The price paid by Manchester City for the World Cup champion Argentine midfielder has surpassed the 100 million pounds paid by Aston Villa for Jack Grealish 18 months prior.
The 22-year-old has signed an eight-and-a-half-year contract at Stamford Bridge to keep him with the team until the summer of 2031. He only joined Benfica last summer for about 10 million pounds.
Chelsea and Benfica had been in negotiations to sign the midfielder all of January, but Benfica would not agree to a deal until Chelsea met his 120 million release clause.
However, after 12 hours of negotiations headed by Chelsea’s co-owner Behdad Eghbali from London, the club reached an agreement on a deal worth 121 million pounds at 9.15 p.m. on Deadline Day.
The first payment from the Blues will be for 30 million pounds, with the remaining five installments covering the remaining cost.
The 22-year-old was absent from the Benfica team for their match against Arouca on Tuesday night because he was in Portugal for a medical before moving to Stamford Bridge.
A private plane is expected to depart the airport in Lisbon at 10.20 a.m. on Wednesday to transport Fernandez to the United Kingdom.
Jorginho, who signed a 12-million-pound contract with Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal on Deadline Day, will be partially replaced by Fernandez.
