Sports

Chelsea sign Enzo Fernandez in £106.8m record deal from Benfica

Chelsea have completed the signing of Argentina midfielder, Enzo Fernandez, from Benfica for a British-record £106.8 million.

The deal for the Argentine surpasses the £100 million Manchester City paid for Jack Grealish from Aston Villa 18 months ago.

The 22-year-old, who only joined Benfica last summer for around £10 million, signed an eight-and-a-half-year deal at Stamford Bridge to keep him at the club until the summer of 2031.

Chelsea had been in talks to sign the World Cup winner throughout January, but Benfica had refused to do business unless the Blues paid his €120 million release clause.

But Chelsea agreed a deal of €121 million at 9:15 p.m. on Deadline Day after 12 hours of talks led by Chelsea’s co-owner Behdad Eghbali from London.

The Blues will pay a first instalment of £30 million with the rest of the fee paid in five further instalments.

Fernandez was left out of Benfica’s squad for their game against Arouca on Tuesday night, with the 22-year-old undergoing a medical in Portugal ahead of his switch to Stamford Bridge.

According to Sky Sports, Fernandez will fly to the United Kingdom on Wednesday morning, with a private jet scheduled to leave Lisbon airport at 10.20 a.m.

Fernandez will help to replace Jorginho, who joined Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal on Deadline Day in a £12 million deal.

Following the arrival of Fernandez, Chelsea spent £323.3m in January.

Here are the deals the Blues made:

Benoit Badiashile – Monaco, £35 million

David Datro Fofana – Molde, undisclosed (reported £10 million deal)

Andrey Santos – Vasco da Gama, undisclosed (reported £18 million deal)

Joao Felix – Atletico Madrid, £9.7 million loan

Mykhailo Mudryk – Shakhtar Donetsk, £88.5 million

Noni Madueke – PSV Eindhoven, £29 million

Malo Gusto – Lyon, £26.3 million

Enzo Fernandez – Benfica, £106.8 million

The Star