Todd Boehly is boarding a flight to Lisbon on Monday to try and negotiate an eye-watering deal to sign Enzo Fernandez – and the Chelsea co-owner is ready to absolutely annihilate the British transfer record to land his man.
The Argentina midfielder outlined himself as one of the world’s leading young stars with some stellars displays at the World Cup. And with his nation claiming World Cup glory, demand for his services quickly reached fever pitch.
Indeed, Liverpool are reportedly among those clubs to have kept a close eye on the player’s progress. Scouting him in Qatar, they would only have been impressed by his crowning as the tournament’s best young star.
And with the Reds looking to remodel their midfield in 2023, Fernandez is very much a player on Jurgen Klopp’s wishlist.
However, the most firm moves since the World Cup ended have come from Chelsea. They were in talks with Benfica after the World Cup ended over a possible deal to bring him to Stamford Bridge.
And while Chelsea initially hoped a £80m offer would do the trick, Benfica were quick to refer to his transfer exit clause.
That is set at £105.6m (€120m) – a fee that would set a new British transfer record.
In order to make the fee more palatable, Chelsea tried a number of tactics to reduce their initial outlay.
Firstly, Boehly tried to offer more than Fernandez’s asking price, but by paying the fee in smaller chunks over a period of time.
Then, when Benfica rejected that, demanding the full fee up front, Chelsea tried a new approach.
