This one is moving fast, and so many good sources are reporting it that we really believe it’s happening.
Enzo Fernandez was a star of the World Cup, having had a brilliant start to the season with Benfica. After just 6 months in Portugal he already looks too good for that league, and Chelsea are apparently lining up a mega January bid to bring him to the Premier League.
The well informed Ben Jacobs reports that the Blues are in “direct talks” with the Eagles over Fernandez, who has a release clause north of €100m according to most of those with information on the deal.
Chelsea have entered into direct talks with Benfica over Enzo Fernandez. Their tactic, as previously reported, is to pay above the release clause in order to get more preferable payment terms. Benfica under no obligation to accept unless the release clause is triggered. pic.twitter.com/s99zSNVQe6
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) December 30, 2022
But it’s more complex than that – FFP will prevent Chelsea from paying the money as a lump sum, which means they can’t actively trigger the clause. What they can do is offer more than the release clause in order to persuade Benfica to accept payments spread out over time.
If the Portuguese side are happy with it, we could see everything wrapped up rapidly.
