Chelsea and Benfica's negotiations over a price for Enzo Fernandez have been complicated by a massive clause inserted over the summer. The 21-year-old only moved to Portugal seven months ago after leaving from River Plate, and his boyhood club are set for a massive pay-off.
He only cost £10million over the summer but has since risen to be one of the standout players in the world this season after a stellar Champions League group stage and an even better World Cup with Argentina. With this in mind his £106million release clause may not yet be enough to get a deal done.
Chelsea are so keen to get a deal over the line before the summer in order to avoid a transfer battle with other clubs that they are prepared to pay over the odds instead to secure the move in January. With Fernandez keen on joining up with Graham Potter's men sooner rather than later, the only thing left to clear up is a payment structure.
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Due to a massive 25% payment owed to River Plate on any transfer of Fernandez away from Benfica, Chelsea may well be incentivising during talks, according to Pedro Sepúlveda. Taking the £106million deal, 25% from that would mean Benfica only get £79.5million of the money paid by Chelsea, with River Plate due £26.5million.
The Argentine club are also due an additional £8million from add-ons already from his move to Europe. With Benfica facing the prospect of losing someone they have developed and helped move into global prominence so quickly it would be a kick in the teeth to then lose out on extra cash in the deal, hence Chelsea's willingness to sweeten the deal.
The middle ground of paying higher than the release clause to secure a favourable structure on payments and not massively overpaying for the player appears to have been found with £112million the reported price. That would still make Fernandez the most expensive ever Premier League player, breaking Jack Grealish's £100million price tag last summer.
Chelsea's record is the £97.5million fee - briefly the Premier League record - set when purchasing Romelu Lukaku from Inter.
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