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Benfica president Rui Costa ‘tried to convince Enzo Fernández to stay until the end of the season’ but the Argentine ‘REFUSED’, reports in Portugal claim, with his record £107m Chelsea move completed only’ TWO MINUTES’ before the deadline
- Portuguese media reveal the details of the signing of Enzo Fernández by Chelsea
- It was clear that Benfica were reluctant to lose their World Cup-winning star.
- The midfielder’s contract with the Blues was sealed minutes before the deadline
Enzo Fernández refused to stay at Benfica for the rest of the season, leading to his record transfer to Chelsea on deadline day, according to reports in Portugal.
After several days of negotiations, the Blues finally landed their man late on Tuesday night, with Fernandez joining the English club for £107m, a record British transfer fee.
The deal came down to the last minute, with Portuguese outlet Record claiming it was only signed two minutes before the deadline.
Record indicated that Enzo Fernández’s deal was completed two minutes before the deadline.
Rui Costa wanted to stay with Fernández until the end of the season, but the player refused to stay
The same newspaper has claimed that Benfica president Rui Costa did everything possible to keep Fernández, and was desperate for the Argentine midfielder to stay at the club for the rest of the season.
However, Fernández made it clear that he did not want to stay beyond January and ultimately got his way.
Another Portuguese outlet, A Bola, also reveals the position of the Benfica coach, Roger Schmidt, in this regard, since he agreed not to stay with a player who was determined to leave.
Fernandez’s move to Stamford Bridge comes after Chelsea were linked with the World Cup winner throughout January.
The month began with Fernández challenging Benfica by flying back to Argentina to celebrate the New Year while pushing for a move to England.
Fernández decided that he did not want to stay at Benfica until the end of the season
Benfica president Rui Costa tried to convince him to stay but was unsuccessful
Schmidt responded by confirming that Fernández would face disciplinary action, but also criticized Chelsea’s ‘disrespectful’ pursuit of the 22-year-old and suggested they had no genuine intention of paying his release clause.
Days later, he claimed Chelsea’s search for the midfielder was ‘closed’, only for the Blues to revive their interest in the final days of the window after being told Brighton’s Moises Caicedo was not for sale.
This time, Chelsea were willing to pay the full release clause, but there were questions about how many installments would be required to make the payment.
During the last days of negotiations, Fernández stayed away from training and was left out of Benfica’s squad for Tuesday’s league match against Arouca.
The Chelsea hierarchy finally reached an agreement with Benfica a few hours before the deadline and managed to do the necessary paperwork to close the signing on time.