Chelsea completes a record transfer. 130 million euros for the “rebel” football world champion

One of the biggest revelations was Enzo Fernandez during the World Cup in Qatar. The Argentine midfielder played all the matches for the national team Competition He scored a goal in the group match against Mexico (2-0). After the World Cup, he was linked with a move to Real Madrid In the event that the Spanish failed to sign Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund. There were also rumors of interest Liverpool Or Paris Saint-Germain. After that, there was only one candidate in the fight for Fernandez – Chelsea.

Chelsea came close to achieving their goal. They want Enzo Fernandez and give 130 million euros

Duncan Castles, a journalist for The Times, reports that Chelsea have achieved their goal and are very close to signing Enzo Fernandes from Benfica Lisbon. The Portuguese earns as much as 130 million euros – an amount ten million more than the amount written in the takeover clause. This measure is to make Chelsea able to distribute the payments in instalments. In addition, Fernandez did not show up to train Benfica to put pressure on his current employer. It is expected that the final decision of Benfica’s president, Rui Costa, will be made soon.

Earlier, the media reported that Chelsea made two bids worth 127 million euros for Enzo Fernandez. Then there was information that the English offered “only” 90 million euros. The whole thing pissed coach Roger Schmidt off. “It’s disrespectful to all of us, to Benfica. They drive the player crazy. They pretend they want to pay the clause and then they want to negotiate. They tried to seduce him, but they know they can only have him if they pay the clause. If he wants to leave and breaks one of the clauses, we might lose him.” “.

The departure of Enzo Fernandes would mark a €130m Chelsea transfer record and Benfica’s sale record in Lisbon. So far, Chelsea paid the most for Romelu Lukaku in the summer of 2021 – then Inter Milan collected €113m. In turn, Benfica has so far achieved the largest profit since the departure of Joao Felix to Atletico Madrid – up to 127 million euros. At the same time, Fernandez will be the fifth most expensive player in football history – only Neymar (222 million euros), Kylian Mbappe (180 million euros), Ousmane Dembele (140 million euros) and Philippe Coutinho (135 million euros) have earned more.

Enzo Fernandez joined Benfica Lisbon in July 2022 for €14m from River Plate. To date, the Argentine midfielder has made 29 appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals and recording seven assists.