World Cup-winning Argentine midfielder Fernandez completes biggest signing in Premiership history; joins Chelsea for mammoth Rs 1080 crore
Jorginho; (right) Enzo Fernandez. Pic/Getty Images
Chelsea on Wednesday confirmed the signing of Argentina’s World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for a record British transfer fee of £106.8 million (Rs 1080 crore approx).
The 22-year-old, whose arrival at Stamford Bridge was announced in the early hours of Wednesday by the Portuguese club, has agreed an eight-and-a-half-year deal. Chelsea announced on their official website: “Enzo Fernandez is a Blue! The Argentinian midfielder has completed his transfer from Benfica to Chelsea.” The deal breaks the previous Premier League record, set by Manchester City when they signed Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for £100 million (Rs 1010 crore approx) in August 2021, and takes Chelsea’s spending since the end of last season to more than half a billion pounds.
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Blues on spending spree
Graham Potter’s struggling Chelsea went on a staggering spending spree in January, bringing in a clutch of players including Mykhaylo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke and Joao Felix, who joined on loan from Atletico Madrid. World Cup winner Fernandez, whose transfer was announced by Portuguese club Benfica in the early hours of Wednesday, is Chelsea’s eighth signing of the January window. Fernandez, named Best Young Player of the World Cup for his displays during Argentina’s successful campaign in Qatar, only joined Portuguese giants Benfica in July last year, for a reported fee of around £10 million (Rs 101 crore approx).
The 22-year-old is understood to have signed an eight-and-half-year deal that will run until 2031. Todd Boehly’s consortium has spent hundreds of millions since buying Chelsea at the end of last season but the club are languishing in 10th place in the Premier League.
Also Read: Manchester City beat Chelsea to close gap at top
Cancelo moves to Bayern
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich signed Manchester City wing-back Cancelo on loan until the end of the season and have an option to buy him for a reported 70 million euros (Rs 624 crore approx). The 28-year-old Portuguese defender joined City from Juventus in 2019 but has been a peripheral figure in Pep Guardiola’s team since the World Cup.
Experienced Italian Jorginho joins Arsenal
Jorginho joined Premier League leaders Arsenal from Chelsea on transfer deadline day on Tuesday for a reported fee of £12 million (Rs 121 crore approx). “Welcome to The Arsenal, Jorginho,” the club said in a post on their official Twitter account. Gunners manager Mikel Arteta said the 31-year-old Italy international would bring “intelligence, deep leadership skills and a huge amount of Premier League and international experience”.
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