After a tense day of wondering whether a deal could be done, Chelsea and Benfica finally agreed the terms for Enzo Fernandez's transfer on deadline day. It certainly did not come cheap as the Blues footed a £106.7million bill to land the World Cup winner.
The Portuguese side were initially reluctant to accept anything short of the 22-year-old's release clause and preferred to receive the money up front. Chelsea hoped to provide the cash in installments but were willing to exceed the fee Benfica demanded to facilitate this.
Benfica president Rui Costa remained steadfast for much of the transfer window but eventually an agreement was reached late on Tuesday. Fernandez only arrived at the Estadio da Luz in the summer for a fee short of £9million with another £7million possible in add-ons.
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Fernandez is understood to have agreed on an eight-and-a-half-year contract at Stamford Bridge, which will once again allow Chelsea to amortise the fee over a long period. The Blues will pay the £106.7million fee across six instalments, the first of which be around £30million.
There is little doubting that Benfica have garnered a substantial profit for a six-month investment but they will have been keen to drive as difficult a bargain as possible with a number of financial commitments expected from the transfer.
River Plate, with whom Fernandez was registered from 2019 to 2022, were entitled to a significant fee. The South American side earned 25% of the transfer value, an amount in the region of £26.74million.
The deal also had to take into account a solidarity payment for clubs involved in the development of Fernandez. The midfielder's youth career was spent at Club La Recova and River Plate. That fee totalled £4million. In addition Benfica were required to pay intermediaries 6.56% of the transfer fee which totals £7million
Benfica have confirmed the deal in a statement to the Portuguese stock exchange. It reads: "Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol, SAD informs that it has reached an agreement with Chelsea FC for the disposal of all the rights of the player Enzo Fernández, for an amount of €121,000,000.
"It is further informed that Chelsea FC will have the right to retain the 3.78% solidarity mechanism for subsequent distribution to the clubs that participated in the player's formation. In addition, Benfica SAD will have charges for intermediation services of 6.56% of the value of the sale deducted from the amount of solidarity and will also have to deliver to River Plate the amount corresponding to 25% of the transfer value deducted from the amounts of solidarity and intermediation services."
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