Manchester City sign Enzo Fernandez in £125m record deal

Manchester City have signed Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea in a £125m deal that matches the British transfer record. BBC Sport reported that the fee also sets a new Manchester City club record, surpassing the £116m the club paid for Elliot Anderson earlier in the summer transfer window.

Watch the highlights:

The transfer makes Fernandez the first footballer to move for more than £100m on two occasions. Chelsea signed the Argentina midfielder from Benfica for £107m in 2023. Fernandez also joins Alan Shearer and Rio Ferdinand among players who have broken the British transfer record twice during the Premier League era.

Fernandez, 25, will reunite with Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca, who previously coached him at Chelsea. BBC Sport reported that Maresca regarded his former captain as a trusted midfielder already familiar with his tactical instructions and patterns of play. City moved for Fernandez after the summer departures of Rodri, Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez left vacancies in midfield.

Negotiations continued into the closing hours of the 79-day window. According to BBC Sport, Chelsea had set an August 14 deadline for clubs to meet a £120m valuation, but no offer arrived by that point. Chelsea were later understood to be seeking £135m. City indicated that they would not pay that amount and submitted a £125m offer the following day, which Chelsea accepted.

Chelsea sought to add Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara as the window closed, agreeing a reported £47m deal before the move collapsed. BBC Sport said Monaco went back on the written agreement while renegotiating a proposed sale of striker Folarin Balogun to Everton. Chelsea nevertheless completed the Fernandez transfer, leaving the London club without a direct replacement before the deadline.

Fernandez won the 2022 World Cup with Argentina and was named the tournament’s best young player. Under Maresca at Chelsea, he was also part of the team that won the 2025 Europa Conference League and the Club World Cup later that summer. His arrival follows Manchester City’s two wins from their opening two Premier League matches and adds an experienced international midfielder to Maresca’s squad.