Premier League giants Manchester City have reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign midfielder Enzo Fernandez for £125 million, bringing an end to the long-running uncertainty over the Argentine's future at Stamford Bridge.
The transfer matches the British record fee and brings an end to the drawn-out saga surrounding the 25-year-old's future in west London.
The deal has been one of the major stories of the transfer window, with City maintaining their interest in Fernández as the deadline approached. The midfielder had also been keen on a move to Manchester, with City manager Enzo Maresca playing a key role in the pursuit.
The Athletic's David Ornstein broke the transfer on X.
The deal has matched Alexander Isak's £125m move from Newcastle to Liverpool a year ago to the day.
Chelsea had set 5 p.m. BST, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, as the deadline for the clubs to submit bids for Fernandez. The club had made it clear that it would consider offers of £120 million and had also informed interested parties about the payment terms it was willing to accept.
Chelsea demanded more than £120 million for the 2022 World Cup winner after the deadline, and the player would need to agree to new terms to reach an agreement for the 25-year-old
Fernandez had expressed his desire to leave Chelsea and had not participated in the team's last two games against Brighton and Luton Town.
Manchester City collaborated with Fernandez's agent, Javier Pastore and Chelsea to get the deal done before the end of the transfer window.
The 25-year-old joined Chelsea from Benfica in January 2023, and the deal was worth £106.8m.
After Morgan Rogers (£117 million) to Chelsea, Bradley Barcola joined Liverpool for (£123 million), and Anderson's signing by City, Fernandez is the fourth player this summer to transfer to a Premier League team for a fee of at least £100 million.
Chelsea had initially hoped to keep Fernandez at the club this summer, but the midfielder had been pushing for an exit since March and remained firm on his decision.
Fernandez had been keen on a move to Real Madrid, but the Spanish giants eventually ruled out making an offer for him.
The transfer to Manchester City would rank as the second-biggest sale in Chelsea's history, behind Eden Hazard's move to Real Madrid in 2019 for £130m. It would also see Chelsea set a Premier League record for income generated from player sales.
Fernandez's departure comes as part of a remarkable summer of sales for Chelsea. The midfielder's move, along with Nicolas Jackson's £65 million transfer to Aston Villa and Liam Delap's £50 million switch to Nottingham Forest, has pushed the club's total expected income from player sales to more than £400 million.
That would represent a significant jump from Chelsea's previous record of around £300 million, which was only set last season.
Chelsea had been looking to reduce the size of their squad after finishing 10th in the Premier League last season. The club are also out of the UEFA Champions League this season and ended the previous campaign without a trophy.
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