Manchester City have equaled the British transfer record with a £125million deal to sign Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez, who was left furious after his attempts to replace the Argentine midfielder were thwarted by Monaco reneging on a deal to sell Lamine Camara last night. five-year contract. Chelsea were expecting a huge fee for Fernandez and it looked like they were going to find a replacement for him as the transfer window came to an end. The club agreed a £47m fee with Monaco for Camara, who was set to sign a six-year contract with the option of an additional year. Chelsea pounced when Everton’s attempts to sign American striker Folarin Balogun ran into difficulties. This left Monaco needing to raise funds from elsewhere, prompting Chelsea to revive their bid for Camara after earlier that day they rejected a £38.1m bid for the 22-year-old Senegalese midfielder. Chelsea had a written agreement with Monaco but were stunned when the Ligue 1 club pulled out of the deal as the deadline approached. Sources called Monaco’s conduct “deeply unprofessional.” When an extraordinary situation unfolded, it emerged that Everton, who had also loaned Jack Grealish from City, had refused to give up Balogun, renegotiating the fee for the former Arsenal striker only for that deal to also fall through shortly after midnight. The failure of Camara’s move did not lead Chelsea to cancel the sale of Fernández to City. The deal means City have spent £327m on midfielders this summer following the arrivals of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116m and Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille for £86m. “I couldn’t be happier to be here and I’m up for the challenge of helping City continue to win trophies. This is a club built for success,” said Fernández, who becomes the most expensive player in this country alongside Alexander Isak, who signed for Liverpool from Newcastle for £125m a year. does. “I pride myself on continually improving my game. Anyone who has worked with me will know how hard I train every day and how much I put into games. I give absolutely everything and I can promise Manchester City that will continue now that I am here.”Iliman Ndiaye also completed his move to Manchester City on a very busy day for sporting director Hugo Viana. Photograph: Manchester City FC Maresca has a good relationship with Fernández after coaching him at Chelsea and a reunion has been under consideration for some time. City began talks with Chelsea on Monday night and will feel they have successfully rebuilt their midfield after selling Rodri to Barcelona and losing Bernardo Silva to Real Madrid, as well as selling Nico Gonzalez to Newcastle. They were also undeterred, even after Chelsea’s unofficial deadline for clubs to submit bids of £120m for Fernandez passed last month. Fernandez has been seeking an exit from Chelsea since March and his departure was announced in a brief statement on the club’s website. The 25-year-old, who scored 31 goals after joining from Benfica for £106.7m in January 2023, initially had his sights set on joining Real Madrid. He became disillusioned after Maresca’s bitter split with Chelsea earlier this year. Fernandez, the unofficial vice-captain, spoke after Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain in March. Chelsea responded by banning him for two games. Fernández returned to training after the World Cup and was booed by Chelsea fans during a pre-season friendly against Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge. He featured in the club’s first game of the season, coming off the bench to help Xabi Alonso’s team beat Fulham, but was left out of Chelsea’s next two games. Chelsea understood that a sale was in their interest. There is a feeling within the club that Fernández, who won the Conference League and the Club World Cup during his time in west London, had not shown he was material to be vice-captain. Chelsea have made around £500m in loans and sales this summer. They ended the window by selling Marc Guiu to RB Leipzig for £16m and loaning Dário Essugo to Strasbourg, Robert Sánchez to Como and Mykhailo Mudryk to Tottenham. Tosin Adarabioyo has joined Spurs on a permanent deal.
