In a truly breathtaking, deadline-day finale, the summer transfer window ended with Manchester City securing Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea in a colossal joint-British-record 125m deal, which will keep him at the Etihad Stadium until 2031. It is a monumental fee for a 25-year-old that drew it level with Liverpool’s signing of Alexander Isak for that sum, putting it among the most expensive Premier League transfers in history. This move will therefore complete a full circle for the Spaniard whose Chelsea career took off when he signed for them in January 2023 for £106.7m in his move from Benfica, although he becomes the first-ever player to be sold for over £100m more than once.
Driving the transfer is largely new manager Enzo Maresca; a man who, like with Argentina, previously coached the Spaniard – playing him in his midfield from 2023 and pushing heavily for one of the former club captains to become a cornerstone of his new team. The Argentine felt he wanted to leave to work with Maresca, be granted UEFA Champions League action and fresh challenges, with a strained relationship with Chelsea fans proving to be one of the triggers behind the move. The midfielder is the jewel in a vast, multi-million-pound rebuild of the Etihad’s engine room.
At Chelsea, as they watched some of the key members of their midfield depart to Barcelona and Real Madrid (Rodri and Bernardo Silva), they needed to bring in talented players across all positions, and not only did they lure Fernandez to West London; they purchased England midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for 116m. As well as this, they were able to attract French boy Ayyoub Bouaddi to the club.
The signing of Fernandez was therefore part of a massive, landmark rebuilding that the side was undergoing to establish themselves as one of the very top teams not just in domestic football but in Europe as well.
Data Source: Official Premier League & Club Transfer Announcements (The Business Standard & LiveMint Transfer Reports, September 2026).
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