Argentina worldwide Enzo Fernandez indicators for Manchester Metropolis in a deal from Chelsea value 125 million kilos ($169m).
Printed On 1 Sep 2026
Manchester Metropolis equalled the British switch charge document for a participant after they signed midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea on deadline day for offers in Europe.
The 25-year-old Argentina worldwide, who was a part of his nation’s group that reached the 2026 World Cup remaining, had lengthy been linked with a transfer away from Stamford Bridge.
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The deal, nonetheless, was stretched to the ultimate couple of minutes of the summer transfer window, which shut at 22:00 GMT on Tuesday.
Metropolis confirmed the cope with a video on the social media platform X, with the charge matching the 125 million kilos ($169m) that Liverpool paid Newcastle for Alexander Isak final summer time.
The deal appeared to have been agreed upon between the golf equipment hours earlier than the window shut, permitting for the participant to finish a medical, however doubts concerning the deal began to emerge with the clock ticking on the deadline.
Fernandez himself had taken to his Instagram web page forward of the deadline on Tuesday to bid farewell to Chelsea followers.
“I need you to know that these haven’t been straightforward days for me. Writing this isn’t straightforward both. The reality is, I haven’t been in place,” Fernandez wrote in a message directed to followers of the London membership.
“Three years in the past, Cobham [the club’s training ground] and Stamford Bridge turned house for me and my household.
“Consider me once I say that, from the second I arrived, I turned obsessive about profitable and with bringing this membership each trophy that its historical past deserves.
“We suffered, we cried, I acquired offended many instances, however we additionally celebrated titles and unforgettable victories. Collectively, by means of the nice instances and the tough ones.”
Fernandez was a part of the Chelsea aspect that gained the UEFA Convention League in 2025 earlier than occurring to assert the expanded FIFA Membership World Cup that yr.
Metropolis boss Enzo Maresca labored with Fernandez at Chelsea earlier than taking up the daunting process of succeeding Pep Guardiola on the Etihad.
The Italian was a driving drive behind the deal to land Fernandez after the latest sale of influential World Cup winner Rodri to Barcelona, in addition to the departures of fellow midfielders Bernardo Silva, Nico Gonzalez and Tijjani Reijnders.
The 25-year-old will companion with England worldwide Elliot Anderson and Moroccan Ayyoub Bouaddi in Metropolis’s revamped central midfield at a price of greater than 300 million kilos ($405.4m).
“Each participant needs to be a part of a membership like this, as a result of everybody is aware of how well-run Metropolis are,” stated Fernandez in his assertion launched by Metropolis upon completion of the deal.
“It is a membership constructed for achievement. In the event you look throughout the squad, Metropolis have high quality in each space. I need to be taught from my new teammates and turn out to be a greater participant.”
Fernandez, who signed for Chelsea from Benfica for 106 million kilos ($143.2m) in 2023, angered the Blues final season by expressing curiosity in becoming a member of Actual Madrid, and was dropped for 2 matches because of this.
He scored twice in Argentina’s run to the World Cup remaining, together with a surprising strike towards England within the semifinal.
However his match ended with a crimson card within the remaining as Argentina had been crushed 1-0 to overlook out on retaining their standing as world champions.
“He’s an entire midfielder: technically gifted, hardworking, tenacious, and a goalscorer,” stated Metropolis’s director of soccer Hugo Viana.
“To have performed in two World Cup finals and gained main trophies in a number of international locations at simply 25 says every little thing it is advisable find out about his mentality, professionalism and technical high quality.
“We’re delighted to carry him right here, and really feel very strongly he’ll enhance our group.”
