Chelsea have signed Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for a British-record transfer fee.
The Blues agreed a £105million deal to bring the Argentina international, 22, to Stamford Bridge after a month-long pursuit. He is the most expensive signing in Premier League history - eclipsing the £100m Manchester City paid for Jack Grealish in 2021.
The deal went down to the wire with Chelsea submitting a deal sheet before the 11pm deadline, giving them an extra hour to get the move completed. However, it is understood they successfully got the necessary paperwork over the line to complete the historic transfer.
Benfica were determined not to lose Fernandez in January. They insisted the midfielder would only be sold if his release clause was met, with Benfica making a substantial profit on the £8.8m they paid when he arrived from Argentine side River Plate just seven months ago.
Benfica confirmed Fernandez's move to Chelsea in the early hours of Wednesday morning. A statement read: "Benfica informs that it has reached an agreement with Chelsea FC for the sale of all the rights of the player Enzo Fernandez, for an amount of €121m."
It continued: "Benfica... will still have to deliver to River Plate the amount corresponding to 25 per cent of the transfer value deducted from the amounts of the solidarity and intermediation services."
Fernandez made a name for himself during the recent World Cup in Qatar. He helped Argentina win their third world title - ending Lionel Messi's career-long wait to lift the prestigious trophy. Fernandez won the tournament's Young Player Award for his efforts.
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"I’m not surprised by Enzo," said Messi when asked about Fernandez's transfer links. "I know him and I see him train every day. He deserves it because he’s a spectacular player."
Chelsea were hoping to get Fernandez for a smaller fee, but Benfica had no interest in negotiating. They insisted the Blues needed to trigger the youngster's release clause and accused an anonymous club - believed to be Chelsea - of being "disrespectful".
"There's a club who want our player," said Benfica manager Roger Schmidt earlier in January. "They know we don't want to sell the player. They try to get the player on their side and they know that they can only get this player when they pay the [release] clause.
"So it's a very clear situation, what the club is doing who wants to buy Enzo. It's disrespectful against all of us, against Benfica and I cannot accept what they are doing.
"So to make the player crazy and then pretend they can pay the clause and later they want to negotiate, I think it's not what I understand about a good relationship between clubs who maybe want to discuss a player. That's what I can say about the whole topic with Enzo and I will not answer further consequential questions."
