Man City Sign Enzo Fernandez for £125m on Deadline Day

Deadline Day Agreement

Manchester City have signed midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea for £125m. Sky Sports and BBC Sport both report the deal was struck on Deadline Day, the last day of the summer transfer window.

MARCA wrote that the move "took until the end of the transfer window", with Chelsea eventually giving in to the player's wish to leave. BBC Sport said the two clubs negotiated over the previous 24 hours and reached agreement on the Tuesday.

Sky Sports reported that Fernandez would take a medical before finalising the move. None of the sources give a closing date or a closing time for the window itself, so exactly when it shut is not stated.

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The Fee and the Records

BBC Sport said the £125m matches the joint-British transfer record, equalling what Liverpool paid Newcastle United for striker Alexander Isak on deadline day last summer.

The same report put City's spending at a Premier League record £458m for a single window, passing the £415m Liverpool spent last summer. City have also raised around £300m from player sales.

MARCA gave the fee as 146 million euros and said that, according to the valuation site Transfermarkt, it is the fourth most expensive transfer in the sport's history. Neymar's move to Paris Saint-Germain remains top of that list.

Fernandez, Maresca and Chelsea's Window

The 25-year-old Argentina international joined Chelsea from Portuguese club Benfica in 2023 for a then British record £107m. Sky Sports calculated Chelsea's profit on the sale at £18m.

At City he is reunited with manager Enzo Maresca, who coached him at Chelsea. BBC Sport said Maresca was keen to work with him again after losing a number of midfielders this summer.

In an open letter posted on Instagram, Fernandez wrote that "these have not been easy days for me" and that he "haven't been in a good place". He said Chelsea would always be in his heart and that, in the fans' position, he would "probably be thinking the same way".

He had been booed by Chelsea supporters during a friendly against Real Sociedad and again after coming on at Fulham. He was left out of the squad against Luton Town in the Carabao Cup and against Brighton, with reports in Argentina suggesting he asked to be omitted.

BBC Sport reported that Chelsea had set a 17:00 BST deadline on 14 August for clubs to bid £120m or more. Sky Sports said Chelsea hoped to replace him with Monaco's Lamine Camara for £47m, but Monaco reneged after renegotiating the sale of Folarin Balogun to Everton.