Chelsea have been offered a huge incentive to finally sign Benfica star Enzo Fernandez before the January transfer window slams shut. The 22-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge lately after impressing for Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar.
The Blues are expected to approach the Portuguese giants with another proposal for Fernandez before the end of the month, football.london understands. Chelsea made the midfielder a priority target before the new year and held several rounds of talks with Benfica over a deal.
But, a move collapsed when Benfica stood firm on their £105million valuation — a figure which the west Londoners were not prepared to meet. However, with Graham Potter in desperate need of a new midfielder, Chelsea have reopened negotiations to sign Fernandez and Todd Boehly has been given an incentive to complete a deal before the end of the month.
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According to The Times, officials at UEFA are planning to set a five-year limit on the length of time over which a player's transfer fee can be spread out. The report states that a new policy will be brought in before the summer transfer window after several clubs raised concerns with the European governing body over Chelsea's business.
The Blues have signed a number of players in January; David Datro Fofana; Benoit Badiashile; Andrey Santos; Joao Felix (on loan from Atletico Madrid); Noni Madueke; Mykhailo Mudryk. And, the latter of the six has caused quite the stir.
Mudryk penned an eight-and-a-half-year deal upon his arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk — the longest ever contract in Premier League history. And, under a process called amortisation, the winger's transfer fee payment is being spread out across the length of the contract in order to meet Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
Had the 22-year-old signed a shorter deal instead, then the annual payment calculation would be much higher, making it far harder to comply with FFP regulations.
FIFA states that players' contracts should be a maximum of five-years unless the laws in said country say otherwise. In the United Kingdom, there is no restriction or limit.
The Times state that UEFA will not prevent the Blues from using amortisation on the players they've already signed. But, from the summer onwards, a new policy will be in place which, therefore, urges Boehly to sign Fernandez in January, taking advantage of the loophole he has been using before it is closed.
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