Chelsea is continuing negotiations with Benfica about signing Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez
Key takeaways:
- Enzo Fernandez: Chelsea in discussions with Benfica over Argentina midfielder.
- What could Chelsea expect in Enzo Fernandez?
The 21-year-old World champion, who joined the Portuguese side in August, has a release clause of approximately £106m.
A record-breaking potential transfer:
If Chelsea settled to that amount, it would eclipse their current record fee of £98m paid for Romelu Lukaku and add to the record sum of nearly £270m spent by the new owner’s last summer.
Discussions are continuing about the fee structure and the deal’s size. Chelsea’s appeal in Fernandez continues a recent approach of purchasing young players in the hope their value will be held throughout lengthy contracts.
Chelsea’s recent transfers under the new chairman:
Under new director Todd Boehly the club purchased Aston Villa central midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka, 19, for £20m in the summer. Last month decided on a pre-contract deal with 20-year-old Molde FK forward David Datro Fofana.
But paying almost £100m for the ex-River Plate player would be a massive cost for Boehly, who is still interested in talks but has been helped by new technical director Christopher Vivell.
The negotiations for Fernandez are being made with the agreements of 31-year-old midfielders Jorginho and N’Golo Kante coming to an end this season.
N’Golo Kante has just made two appearances this season because of an injury. Still, while it is considered the France CDM has a reasonable possibility of reaching a new contract, the fate of Italy’s Jorginho needs to be clarified.
Chelsea stands at the eighth position in the Premier League, seven points far from the Champions League spot and with one victory in their last five matches in all competitions. They are away from winning in their previous five Premier League away games.
Source – BBC
