Chelsea sealed record £107 million Enzo Fernandez transfer after 20 consecutive hours of negotiations

Chelsea's record £107 million capture of Enzo Fernandez was the result of an insane 20 hours of negotiations, it has been revealed.

The Blues identified the Argentina World Cup hero as a top target in the January transfer window but Benfica played hard-ball throughout and wanted the best possible deal.

In the end, Chelsea agreed to fork out £107 million to make Fernandez the most expensive player in Premier League history, nipping ahead of Jack Grealish.

The 22-year-old signed a lengthy eight-and-a-half year contract before the window slammed shut and became Chelsea's eighth signing in January.

But it took a whole lot of hard work from Chelsea to get the transfer over the line. According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea's co-owner Behdad Eghbali led talks and they nearly lasted the full day before an agreement was reached.

Chelsea will pay £30 million up front, with the rest of the fee paid in five further instalments.

“Chelsea did an incredible work to get Enzo Fernandez deal signed,” Romano said in a column for Caught Offside.

“It took 20 consecutive hours of negotiations, Enzo was a big ally of Chelsea into this deal and this is how they convinced Benfica to sell.

“The price is €121m paid in 6 instalments, contract until 2031 – a very big deal.”

Benfica are making a substantial profit on Fernandez, having bought him for £8.5 million plus £8 million in add-ons from River Plate.

The 22-year-old's boyhood club are also benefiting massively from the move. In fact, because of a 25 per cent sell-on clause they had in place, River bagged a reported record fee of £36 million despite it not even being a direct transfer.

It's more than double the sum they received from Manchester City for the services of Julian Alvarez, who joined for a dirt-cheap £14 million.

Fernandez is to fly in from Lisbon for an official unveiling, but Benfica manager Roger Schmidt sounded happy to see the back of the player.

"Benfica is much bigger than a player," he said in a presser.

"We just need players who are happy to play for Benfica, who are passionate.

"We had a player who wanted to leave and a club willing to pay the clause, we couldn't do anything. We accepted and looked ahead."

Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@transfers

Topics: Chelsea, Benfica, Enzo Fernandez, Argentina, Football World Cup

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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