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Chelsea are determined not to leave Portugal without an agreement for Enzo Fernandez, even if that means the possibility of the Argentine not arriving until the summer, sources have told 90min.
The Blues have been locked in talks with Benfica regarding the World Cup for a number of days after renewing their attempts to land Fernandez last week.
On Monday, Chelsea agreed to pay above Fernandez’ release clause of £105m in order to compensate Benfica for doing the deal in instalments.
The overall fee was acceptable and agreed by Benfica, but the stumbling block which has thus far prevented the deal from going through is how the instalment plan is arranged – in terms of how much Chelsea should pay up-front, how many instalments, and over what period of time.
90min understands the deal has never been closer to being completed than right now, with co-owner Behdad Eghbali doing everything he can to finalise a deal.
Daniel Childs reacts to latest Chelsea news on January transfer deadline day as we wait to see if Enzo Fernandez will sign from Benfica, Arsenal show interest in Jorginho and Hakim Ziyech in talks with PSG for a loan. If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
Indeed Benfica even gave permission for Fernandez to undergo a medical in Lisbon. With personal terms already agreed, it means the only thing stopping the deal is the greenlight from Benfica president Rui Costa – who has the final say on whether the deal goes through.
Chelsea’s hierarchy are united in their determination to sign Fernandez, and sources have confirmed that if they can’t finalise the deal to be done for deadline day, then they want to make make sure a deal is in place for the summer.