Enzo Fernandes beats Jack Grealish to become a Premier League record signing as Chelsea seal an incredible transfer deadline

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Chelsea made Enzo Fernandes the most expensive signing in Premier League history, joining from Benfica for £106.8m.

The Premier League side were tracking the Argentina international who shone at the World Cup, and at one point on deadline day it looked like he was going to miss his first goal.

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Chelsea have finally got the man they’ve been chasing all month

However, they got the deal across the line when they were granted a one-hour extension to get the paperwork done after the 11pm deadline on Tuesday.

TalkSPORT understands the deal will rise to £115m with bonuses – Fernandes has signed an eight-and-a-half year contract at Stamford Bridge with a potential option for a further year.

The fee doubles the January deadline day record, which currently stood at £56m when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in 2018.

It also sees Fernandes overtaking Jack Grealish – who cost Manchester City £100m in 2021 – as the most expensive signing in English football.

A statement from the Portuguese side read: “Benfica has informed that it has reached an agreement with Chelsea FC to sell all rights to the player Enzo Fernandez, for an amount of 121 million euros.”

Fernandes joined Benfica just last summer for a fee of just under £9m. His former club River Plate will receive a 25 per cent selling fee.

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Fernandes caught the attention of Chelsea at the World Cup where he was awarded the Best Young Player award

Chelsea mocked Fernandes’ announcement on Twitter

Chelsea teased that an official announcement was imminent by placing an Argentina flag and a trophy emoji to refer to the World Cup in their Twitter bio.

It’s the end of a very busy transfer window for Chelsea, who signed their side eight times in January, spending more than £300m in the process.

Earlier in January, they signed Ukraine striker Mykhailo Mordik, beating out Arsenal in a deal worth £88m.

They spent £30m on England youth star Noni Madueki, £35m on Monaco defender Beniot Badiaschelli, and another £31m on young Lyon defender Malou Gusto.

More modest fees were spent on David Datro Fofana and Andre Santos as well as the signing of Joao Félix on loan from Atlético Madrid.

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