Chelsea seek to break the English transfer record after Enzo Fernandes’ £105m bid | Chelsea

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Chelsea are poised to break the British transfer record after making a £105m bid for Enzo Fernandes in a bid to sign the Benfica midfielder before Tuesday night’s deadline.

Fernandes is Chelsea’s first target and they are hoping their latest offer will lead to an agreement. The bid satisfies the buyout clause in the Argentine international’s contract.

Sources close to Benfica continued to insist they wanted Chelsea to pay the clause in one go. That could be too much for Chelsea, who have spent more than £450m on signings since being bought by Todd Bohle and Clearlake Capital. Their suggestion is to pay in six instalments.

Even that would be a stunning fee for Fernandes, who has told Benfica he wants a transfer. The 22-year-old, who helped Argentina win the World Cup last month, will overtake Jack Grealish as the most expensive player in English football history. Manchester City paid £100m to sign Grealish from Aston Villa. Chelsea’s record purchase is Romelu Lukaku, who joined from Inter Milan for £97.5m. Lukaku was loaned to Inter last summer.

The Belgian striker’s situation is a reminder that Chelsea, whose other targets in midfield from Brighton include Moises Caicedo and Everton’s Amadou Onana, need to reduce their squad. They’ve been busy this month, adding to Graham Potter’s options with permanent additions of Andre Santos, Benoit Badiachel, Mykhailo Modric and Noni Madueki and loan signing Joao Felix.

Chelsea’s latest move was the £31m signing of Malu Gusto. The 19-year-old right-back, who was bought with the aim of providing competition for Rick James, has been loaned out to Lyon for the rest of the season.

The arrival of Fernandez may force Connor Gallagher to consider his future. Everton offered £40m plus £5m in add-ons for the midfielder. Gallagher, who also has interest from Newcastle and Crystal Palace, is unlikely to want to join Everton given they are locked in a relegation battle.

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The price Chelsea are asking for Gallagher could make the loan more likely. It is understood that there is interest in the England international from the Bundesliga.

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