Manchester City have agreed a deal with Chelsea to sign Enzo Fernández for £125m, a fee that matches the British transfer record set by Liverpool’s deadline-day purchase of Alexander Isak from Newcastle last year. Multiple reporters, including David Ornstein, Fabrizio Romano, Sky in Italy and Sky in Germany, confirmed that Fernández has been given permission by Chelsea to travel to Manchester to complete his medical and sign his new contract.
A long-running saga finally resolved
The move has been building for weeks. Manchester City had been considering a bid for Fernández for some time, with Sky Sports News reporting he was a top target for City boss Enzo Maresca, who worked with the midfielder at Chelsea. Chelsea had initially set a firm asking price, but talks stalled — earlier in the window, Chelsea had set a deadline for clubs to submit a bid worth up to £120m, and City missed that cutoff, though their interest never went away.
The tension escalated as deadline day approached. Chelsea signaled they were prepared to sell Fernández for the right price, provided they could improve their own squad before the window closed, though there hadn’t been direct club-to-club talks at that stage. Fernández himself had verbally agreed personal terms with City, leaving the final hurdle as a club-to-club agreement on fee.
By deadline day evening, sources close to the player captured just how close — and fraught — the situation was. Fernández’s camp believed Chelsea would give the green light for a deadline-day move to Manchester City, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Reuniting with Maresca
The emotional throughline of this deal is Fernández’s relationship with his old boss. Fernández made it clear he wanted the move to City specifically to be reunited with his former Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca.
The numbers behind the deal
Financially, it’s a landmark transfer for both sides. Chelsea will make an £18m profit on a player they signed for £107m three and a half years ago. For City, it’s the centerpiece of a sweeping midfield rebuild — their spending is set to hit £375m with Fernández’s arrival, offset by nearly £315m generated from player sales, leaving a net spend of £60m in the window.
That rebuild has been extensive. The deal completes City’s massive midfield overhaul after they already spent $260 million (roughly £190m) on Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi this summer. City also lost key players in the process — Nico Gonzalez departed for Newcastle in a deal worth up to £50m, Tijjani Reijnders left for Al Qadsiah for £51m, and Bernardo Silva exited on a free transfer to Real Madrid — while Bouaddi’s £86m arrival from Lille set a world-record fee for a teenager, and Elliot Anderson joined for £116m from Nottingham Forest.
Chelsea’s outlook
Losing a player of Fernández’s caliber is a significant blow, even if the fee is substantial. One pundit’s assessment captured the trade-off: Fernández has been one of Chelsea’s most important players, but City now look considerably stronger and could emerge as the biggest challengers to Arsenal this season, even as Chelsea works to bring in a replacement before the window shuts.
Fernández, who joined Chelsea from Benfica for a then-British-record £106.8 million back in February 2023, now heads to the Etihad as one of the most expensive midfielders in English football history — and the final word from his camp, via Romano, was simple: Enzo can’t wait to go to Manchester City and reunite with Enzo Maresca.
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