Argentina worldwide Enzo Fernandez indicators for Manchester Metropolis in a deal from Chelsea value £125 million ($169m).
Revealed On 1 Sep 2026
Manchester Metropolis equalled the British switch payment report for a participant once 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 crew that reached the 2026 World Cup closing, 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 2200 GMT on Tuesday.
Metropolis confirmed the cope with a video on social media platform, X, with the payment matching the £125 million ($169m) that Liverpool paid Newcastle for Alexander Isak final summer time.
The deal gave the impression to be agreed between the golf equipment hours earlier than the window shut, permitting for the participant to finish a medical, however doubts in regards to the deal began to emerge with the clock ticking on the deadline.
Fernandez himself had taken to his web page on the social media platform Instagram, forward of the deadline on Tuesday to bid farewell to Chelsea followers.
“I would like you to know that these haven’t been simple days for me. Writing this isn’t simple both. The reality is, I haven’t been in a superb place,” Fernandez wrote in a message directed to followers of the London membership.
“Three years in the past, Cobham (the membership’s coaching floor) and Stamford Bridge turned house for me and my household.
“Imagine me once I say that, from the second I arrived, I turned obsessive about successful and with bringing this membership each trophy that its historical past deserves.
“We suffered, we cried, I obtained indignant many occasions, however we additionally celebrated titles and unforgettable victories. Collectively, by the great occasions and the troublesome ones.”
Fernandez was a part of the Chelsea facet that one 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 activity 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 accomplice England worldwide Elliot Anderson and Moroccan Ayyoub Bouaddi in Metropolis’s revamped central midfield at a value of over £300 million ($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,” mentioned Fernandez in his assertion launched by Metropolis upon competitors 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 wish to be taught from my new teammates and grow to be a greater participant.”
Fernandez, who signed for Chelsea from Benfica for £106 million ($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 in consequence.
He scored twice in Argentina’s run to the World Cup closing, together with a surprising strike towards England within the semi-final.
However his match ended with a crimson card within the closing as Argentina have been overwhelmed 1-0 to overlook out on retaining their standing as world champions.
“He’s a whole midfielder: technically gifted, hardworking, tenacious and a goalscorer,” mentioned Metropolis’s director of soccer Hugo Viana.
“To have performed in two World Cup finals and received main trophies in a number of international locations at simply 25 says all the things 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 crew.”
