Chelsea have finally reached a full agreement with Benfica to sign midfielder Enzo Fernandez, 90min understands.
The Blues made Fernandez their top target of the window but failed to get a deal over the line earlier in January, prompting them to look at alternative targets like Brighton’s Moises Caicedo, who was also the subject of serious interest from Arsenal.
After failing elsewhere, Chelsea reignited their pursuit of Fernandez in the last week and, after lengthy negotiations, have come to a complete agreement with Benfica president Rui Costa to get a deal over the line.
Chelsea’s plan is to sign Fernandez immediately and the two clubs are working to finalise the signing before Tuesday’s deadline, rather than wait until the summer.
Officials from Stamford Bridge travelled to Portugal to finalise the negotiations and had a team ready to undergo a medical with Fernandez in an attempt to speed up the eventual completion of the transfer.
Personal terms were agreed with the player’s agent earlier this month and are not expected to prove problematic at this late stage.
Chelsea hope to make Fernandez their eighth new signing of the winter transfer window, following on from Benoit Badiashile, Datro Fofana, Mykhailo Mudryk, Joao Felix, Noni Madueke, Andrey Santos and Malo Gusto, the latter of whom has returned to Lyon on a six-month loan.
