Chelsea have reached an agreement with Benfica to sign Enzo Fernandez – and have submitted the necessary paperwork to finalise the signing – with Todd Boehly making another huge statement of intent.

The Blues made the signing of the Argentina star their No 1 priority this window following his hugely-impressive World Cup. However, after talks early in the month, Benfica got irked by Chelsea’s approach and called time on the transfer.

However, with Jorginho departing for Arsenal on deadline day, Boehly made it his mission to finalise Fernandez’s signing.

Indeed, when a Chelsea delegation, including Boehly, boarded a flight to Lisbon on Monday, the Blues co-owner only had one thing in his mind.

To that end, the American was adamant that Chelsea would not return to London without an agreement in place.

Despite Chelsea’s best efforts to get Fernandez for a reduced fee, Benfica were adamant they would only sell for his full release clause. Set at a staggering £105.4m (€120m), Chelsea would have to smash the British record to get the deal done.

But after agreeing to meet the clause, talks then resumed over how the payments would be made. Chelsea initially wanted to pay the fee in six installments over five seasons. Benfica, for their part, wanted more up front and the fee settled in three years.

A variety of sources on Tuesday evening now confirm a full agreement has been reached. Significantly, Chelsea have submitted the required transfer sheets and documents to UEFA prior to the deadline.

Per Fabrizio Romano, Fernandez is now undergoing medical checks with Chelsea medics over in Portugal. And with club lawyers running a fine toothcomb over the contracts, a deal will be formally announced in the following hours.

Enzo Fernandez agrees to sign for Chelsea

Romano states Fernandez will then board a private jet to fly to London with Chelsea and he will be officially confirmed as a player in the next hours.

The transfer of Fernandez, who only moved to Benfica for £9.2m from River Plate over the summer, makes him the costliest British signing of all time. It shatters the £100m fee Manchester City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish in summer 2021. It also takes Boehly’s spending at Chelsea through the £250m barrier this month alone.

Per Sky Sports News, Chelsea have individually spent more than over half of the rest of the Premier League put together. They have also out-spent this month every other major club in Europe’s other top four leagues put together.

Fernanez will sign a lengthy deal at Stamford Bridge, with Romano revealing the arrangement is until 2031 – an eight-and-a-half-year deal.  The 22-year-old will also see his salary sky-rocket in the process.

Fernandez will become their eighth signing of the January window. He follows the likes of Mykhaylo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Malo Gusto and Joao Felix to the club.

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