BREAKING: Chelsea make British record transfer offer for Enzo Fernandez

Chelsea have made a British record transfer fee bid in order to tie up the signing of Enzo Fernandez, with a day to go of the transfer window.

The Blues have not been scared to spend big money in January, adding seven players to their squad, with a lowest fee of around £9 million and a largest of around £70 million.

Now they look set to add Benfica midfielder Fernandez, according to the Telegraph, the Premier League giants made a £105 million bid for the World Cup winner.

The amount meets the player's transfer fee release clause, although the would be sellers are not forced to accept as the bid includes the money being stretched out over a number of installments.

The Blues have been heavily linked with a move for the Argentina star throughout the month, and at one point the move looked certain.

However, negotiations reportedly collapsed and then the 22-year-old appeared to whip out an "I'm staying here" goal celebration at a recent match.

Chelsea have clearly been unperturbed by that though and were reportedly ready to offer the Primeira Liga side 'any' of their players as part of a deal.

Instead they now seem willing to spent £105 million in order to get their man, which would mean breaking the current British record of £100 million, which Manchester City paid to bring Jack Grealish to the Etihad Stadium in 2021.

The club's own record in the £97.5 million they paid to re-sign Romelu Lukaku, with both records proving that money doesn't guarantee success.

Fernandez looks set to move to Stamford Bridge. Image: Alamy

Graham Potter's side may have spent over £450 million already this season but they are only 10th in the Premier League right now, 10 points short of the top four.

A loss to Manchester City in the third round of the FA Cup means their chances of success in the current campaign are limited to the Champions League.

Already in January, they have signed Mikahlio Mudryk, Benoit Badeshille, Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto, Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana, whilst Joao Felix also joined on loan until the end of the season.

Todd Boehly is also expected to sign Christian Nkunku in the summer, with several reports claiming it's already done, even if it's not yet been made official.

Rival fans have started questioning how the west Londoners can afford so many transfers and even FIFA are amending the rules after the Blues stretched many of the deals over long contracts.

Topics: Football, Chelsea Transfer News & Rumours, Transfers, Chelsea, Premier League, Enzo Fernandez, Benfica, Primeira Liga

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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