Manchester City have reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign midfielder Enzo Fernández for £125 million ($169 million). The package for Fernandez equals the existing British transfer record set by Liverpool’s purchase of Alexander Isak from Newcastle United last summer, a move that was also completed at the end of the transfer window. Chelsea have given Fernandez permission to undergo a medical ahead of the proposed move. The west London club had indicated on August 14 that it expected Fernandez to stay for the 2026-27 season after a self-imposed deadline passed without City making an offer. Chelsea valued Fernandez at £120 million and insisted at the time that if they did not receive an offer of that figure within the deadline, he would not leave the club this summer. The west London club said its terms were communicated to City and Fernandez was booed by fans at Stamford Bridge during the club’s final pre-season friendly against Real Sociedad and again in the Premier League opener at Stamford Bridge. Fulham. He finished the match by going down the tunnel without joining his team-mates in front of the away fans for full-time and did not feature in any of the following matches, against Luton Town in the Carabao Cup or Brighton & Hove Albion in the league on Sunday. Fernández has played 170 games for Chelsea, scoring 31 goals and providing 30 assists. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) Fernandez joined Chelsea from Benfica for a British transfer record £106.8 million in January 2023 and is under contract with the club until 2032. He raised doubts over his future at Chelsea on multiple occasions during the latter stages of the 2025-26 campaign, culminating in former manager Liam Rosenior leaving him out for two games in April. Fernández’s agent, former Argentina international Javier Pastore, told The Athletic that the punishment was “completely unfair”. The player later apologized and returned to the squad. The Athletic reported in April that City were considering Fernandez as a midfield option this summer. The club has already signed English midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116m and Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille for an initial €95m. This comes after Rodri joined Barcelona and Tijjani Reijnders left for Al Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia, while Tottenham Hotspur signed Savio and Omar Marmoush. Fernández played under new City manager Enzo Maresca for 18 months at Chelsea. Real Madrid, meanwhile, publicly denied reports linking them with a move for the 2022 World Cup winner earlier this summer. Fernández has played 170 games for Chelsea, scoring 31 goals and providing 30 assists. Will Chelsea miss Fernández? Analysis by Chelsea correspondent Liam Twomey. The summer transfer saga is finally over. Chelsea certainly won’t miss Enzo Fernandez as a distraction, but how much will they miss Enzo Fernandez as a player? Chelsea need some of the things Fernandez can provide in central midfield – namely his ability to dictate play and progress the ball into the final third at a high level – but those things haven’t really been the bulk of the value he has provided in his three and a half years at Stamford Bridge. Fernández stood out under Maresca as a player. Goal-scoring midfielder who crashes the box and operates from a more advanced position in the left pocket, scoring 15 goals last season. Chelsea filled that spot with a big spend in July with the £117m signing of Morgan Rogers, who has made a very impressive start to Xabi Alonso’s side. Had he stayed, Fernández would have had to play in Alonso’s double midfield pivot, where he and Moisés Caicedo have rarely looked good enough without the ball to be a dominant partnership in the Premier League. Defensive solidity already appears to be Alonso’s biggest challenge as he builds his Chelsea team, and the Argentine would not help that effort. Then there are Fernández’s less tangible qualities. For most of his Chelsea career, he served as de facto vice-captain behind Reece James, and regularly wore the armband on the pitch. His personality and locker room presence deserved that status, but his body language toward his teammates sometimes drew attention and his long-standing loyalty to Maresca was an issue. Chelsea needed a cultural reset and midfield revamp under Alonso, and the sale of Fernandez substantially advances the progress of both.
