River Plate to net club record transfer fee after 'genius' Enzo Fernandez sell-on clause activated

River Plate will net a club record transfer fee after Chelsea signed their academy product Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for a British record £106.8 million.

In the final moments of Transfer Deadline Day, after 20 consecutive hours of tough negotiations, Chelsea completed their £323 million January spending spree with the capture of World Cup winner Fernandez.

After weeks of speculation surrounding his future at Benfica, the Portuguese club finally settled on a deal. The Blues will pay a first instalment of £30 million with the rest of the fee paid in five further instalments.

The highly-rated 22-year-old midfielder has penned an eight-and-a-half year deal at Stamford Bridge.

Fernandez's rise has been nothing short of remarkable. Seven months ago, the Argentine cost Benfica just £8.5 million plus £8 million in add-ons from boyhood club River Plate, who were wise to insert a 25 per cent sell-on clause plus bonuses during negotiations.

Then, after displaying his prowess on the world stage in Qatar last year, Chelsea were keen to get a deal over the line.

As a result, the Buenos Aires-based club have netted a reported club record fee of £36 million, which beats their previous most expensive sale.

Ahead of the 2001/02 season, a teenage Javier Saviola joined Barcelona from River Plate for €33 million [£29 million].

So what else do we know about the Fernandez deal? According to Fabrizio Romano, talks led by Chelsea's co-owner Behdad Eghbali on Transfer Deadline Day lasted a quite staggering 20 hours.

Fernandez will reportedly fly to the UK on Wednesday morning, with a private jet scheduled to leave Lisbon airport at 10.20am.

American businessman Boehly and his co-owners have certainly splashed the cash since completing a £4.25 billion takeover in May – and Fernandez is arguably their biggest coup to date.

Last summer, they splashed a record-breaking £278 million on transfers as Kalidou Koulibaly, Raheem Sterling, Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella arrived for big fees.

And in January, the Premier League side have thrown a further £294 million at improving Graham Potter's underperforming squad, with Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile and Malo Gusto arriving amongst others.

Thoughts on Chelsea's transfer business in January?

All we know is, River Plate will be very happy with the outcome from this Fernandez deal.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy/lifebogger

Topics: Chelsea, Enzo Fernandez, Chelsea Transfer News & Rumours, River Plate, Argentina

Jack Kenmare

Senior Journalist at SPORTbible with a passion for long-form journalism. Almost 10 years’ experience across online and print.

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