This article first appeared on December 30 and has been updated with new information.
Benfica’s summer signing Enzo Fernández played his first game in Europe on August 2, followed a month and a half later by his debut for Argentina, and next January the 21-year-old World Cup winner could already become the most expensive midfielder in football history. All this within five months.
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According to consistent media reports from reliable sources, Chelsea are very interested in signing Fernández as early as January, which would require the Premier League club to trigger his €120 million release clause. Sports journalist César Luis Merlo, one of the best football sources in South America, reported that the Blues even offered €127m to avoid the payment terms of the exit clause. According to journalist Gastón Edul of TyC Sports, a transfer is getting closer. Fernández is said to have agreed personal terms with Chelsea, with his entourage now waiting for the clubs to agree on the structure of payments. Italian transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio reported about an imminent deal on Monday night as well.
While the transfer fee would be due in one instalment if the clause is activated, the terms could be renegotiated if an offer above the clause is made, thus adjusting the structure of the deal to keep Chelsea within UEFA’s Financial Fair Play boundaries. “Financial fair play is starting to get some teeth and that will limit ability to acquire players at any price,” Chelsea owner Todd Boehly said in July.
Chelsea move? Fernández’s youth club River Plate would earn over €30m
Benfica recently made it clear that they want to keep their high-flyer until the summer to bolster their own title ambitions. The Portuguese top club, undefeated in all competitions this season, are also still in the running in the Champions League, where they will meet Club Brugge in the round of 16 in February. Club president Rui Costa is ready to negotiate a sale with Chelsea in January, according to South America expert Merlo, but the chance of a deal is small. The Times, meanwhile, reported that Benfica had offered Fernández, the biggest market value winner in 2022, a new contract that would give him a significantly higher salary and in return Benfica would increase his exit clause to €200m.
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Portugal’s record champions acquired Fernández’s services for a fee of €12m from youth club River Plate in the summer of 2022. The price included a 25% sell-on clause. Should the newly-crowned World Cup winner move to London for €127m in January, €31.75m of that amount would go to Buenos Aires.
This transfer fee would make Fernández the most expensive midfielder and most expensive Argentinian in the history of football, as well as the most expensive signing in Premier League history. In total, only four players have cost a higher transfer fee. Among midfielders, he would replace Paul Pogba, who joined Manchester United for €105m in 2016, and among Argentines, Gonzalo Higuaín, whom Juventus bought with the Pogba millions in the same summer. Since his transfer to Europe, Fernández has played 34 games for Benfica and Argentina, losing only to Saudi Arabia and advancing to become arguably the most coveted midfielder alongside England youngster Jude Bellingham.
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20 Ángel Di María | Benfica -> Real Madrid | Fee: €33m
