Inside Chelsea’s £107m Fernandez deal – 12-hour talks and private jets

Enzo Fernandez joins Chelsea

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

As Chelsea fans celebrated the news that Enzo Fernandez’s £107million move had been completed in time for the 11pm transfer deadline on Wednesday, co-owner Behdad Eghbali could rest easy again, knowing that his hard work had paid off. Along with the club’s recruitment team and the chairman Todd Boehly, he helped the west London club pull off one of the biggest heists in recent transfer history.

Up until January 29, there was next to no chance that Chelsea would sign Fernandez using the terms or payment structure they wanted. Benfica were adamant that the Argentinian’s release clause stood at £105m (€120m) and any offers below that amount for the World Cup winner would be rejected.

Two days later, the Blues’ transfer chiefs left Lisbon on their private jet with signatures from club officials on the paperwork, stating they would pay just £40m up front – less than half of what Benfica originally demanded.

Eghbali, who was back in London, was entirely committed to finalising the deal and spent a gruelling 12 hours negotiating with his Portuguese counterparts to try and split the £107m into six payments, with Graham Potter updated on developments beside him, according to The Telegraph. It took several meetings and hours of nervous waiting as Benfica president Rui Costa mulled over the deal, with the board divided over whether to accept it or simply demand the release clause again.

With the clock ticking down and an agreement yet to be reached, Chelsea offered to structure the deal so they would pay an up-front fee of £40m and the remaining £67m split over the coming years, which was the key to concluding the protracted negotiations. Benfica are likely to use a factoring company – a finance firm that purchases the transfer debt for a lower overall figure – so the Portuguese club will still walk away with a huge profit.

The 22-year-old has signed an eight-and-a-half-year contract to 2031 worth a reported £170,000-a-week and becomes not only the club’s record signing at £107m, but also the most expensive player in British history after overtaking Jack Grealish’s £100m move to Manchester City in 2021.

Boehly has born the brunt of criticism for his apparent ‘scattergun’ approach to the transfer market, but this was a carefully measured operation that went down to the very last hour of the transfer window – and the American got it over the line with Eghbali and his recruitment team’s help. For Chelsea’s new owners, it represents a giant victory for their efforts.

DON’T MISS
Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez sent bitter message from Benfica boss Schmidt
Chelsea may already have signed their long-term Jorginho replacement
Chelsea fail to get their way as ‘tense’ Enzo Fernandez talks held

The club had booked a medical at a local hospital in Lisbon in advance of the deal being completed, and Fernandez underwent his examination while the clubs continued to discuss the terms of the deal.

That is unusual in comparison to how deals are normally structured, with medicals typically taking place after the fee and personal terms have been finalised.

But without that foresight, Chelsea might not have been able to welcome Fernandez into their squad for the second half of the season, although the club were prepared to arrange a deal in advance for the summer.

It was similar to how the pair managed to snatch Mykhaylo Mudryk from under the noses of Arsenal with a crafty plan. Having booked a private jet to fly to Turkey, Eghbali and recruitment chief Paul Winstanley met with Shakhtar Donetsk officials to discuss the fee for Mudryk and, once everything was finalised, they brought him back to London on the same plane.

Fernandez’s transfer proved to be far more complicated and perhaps more expensive too, in terms of their various trips to Lisbon and several days spent trying to get the deal over the line.

But when their new No 5 pulls on the blue shirt for the first time at Stamford Bridge in front of 42,000 adoring fans, it would have been worth the effort.

Source: Read Full Article