LAST UPDATE | 1 Feb 2023
CHELSEA BEAT THE clock in the final minutes of the transfer window with the Blues breaking the British transfer record by signing Enzo Fernandez from Benfica.
The 22-year-old midfielder has signed a deal that will run until 2031, with Chelsea paying €121 million (£106.8million) for the Argentina World Cup winner.
Announcing the deal, Benfica said: “In a statement sent to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM) at 12:13am this Wednesday, February 1, Sport Lisboa e Benfica – Futebol, SAD informed that it reached an agreement with Chelsea FC for the sale of all the rights of the player Enzo Fernandez, for a sum of 121 million euros.
“Benfica SAD also explained that Chelsea FC will have the right to retain the solidarity mechanism of 3.78 per cent for subsequent distribution to the clubs that participated in the player’s training.
“Additionally, Benfica SAD will incur charges for intermediation services of 6.56 per cent of the sale value deducted from the solidarity amount and will also have to deliver to River Plate the amount corresponding to 25 per cent of the transfer value deducted from the solidarity amounts and intermediation services.”
The Fernandez deal took Chelsea’s spending since last summer past the £550 million (€620 million) barrier and broke the previous British transfer record, set by Manchester City following the signing of Jack Grealish for £100m (€113 million) in August 2021.
Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain’s attempt to bring Morocco star Hakim Ziyech on loan from Stamford Bridge failed after the French league (LFP) refused to ratify the player’s contract, a source close to the deal told AFP.
PSG had asked the LFP to approve the deal even though the required paperwork arrived after Tuesday’s French transfer deadline.
Ligue 1 clubs had to send all contracts to the league by 11:00pm on Tuesday (2200 GMT) before having a further hour to register moves in the FIFA system, which validates all international transfers.
Ziyech had passed a medical and the clubs had reached an agreement for the player to be loaned to PSG until the end of the season.
However, according to sources, the Premier League club failed to send the required documents in time for the 29-year-old winger’s move to be completed by the deadline.
PSG therefore asked the LFP for special approval, which was promptly rejected.
The Ligue 1 leaders, who play Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on February 14, failed to make any new signings in the winter window.
They had also targeted Inter Milan’s Slovakia centre-back Milan Skriniar, but he will now stay at the Italian club until the end of the season when his contract expires.
Additional reporting from – © AFP 2023
