Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have ‘no intention’ of walking away from a potential deal for Enzo Fernandez, journalist Simon Phillips has told GiveMeSport.
The 22-year-old has been tracked by the west London outfit throughout the January transfer window and could arrive at Stamford Bridge in a Premier League record deal.
Chelsea transfer news – Enzo Fernandez
Fabrizio Romano has provided an update on Chelsea’s pursuit of Fernandez, stating that Chelsea will ‘try until the end’ to bring him to the club.
Romano has also recently stated that a meeting is still ongoing between the west London outfit and Benfica as they continue to try and finally reach a conclusion in the protracted negotiations.
It’s believed that a medical is yet to take place for Fernandez and that any deal would have to be concluded in Portugal at this late stage.
The Argentina international has a €120m (£105.4m) release clause written into his contract at the Estádio da Luz, which Benfica want paying in full to sanction his exit.
Fernandez would join the likes of Mykailo Mudryk, Joao Felix and Noni Madueke at Chelsea following their respective winter arrivals, significantly bolstering Graham Potter’s engine room in the process.
What has Phillips said about Fernandez?
Phillips has disclosed that there is ‘a lot of optimism’ regarding the possible deal despite the previous setbacks and limited time remaining to get this over the line.
In an interview with GMS, he said: “There’s a lot of optimism now from sources that this will go through.
Read more: January Transfer Window 2023: When Does It Begin, Rumours and Everything You Need To Know
“Chelsea have had Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have been working directly together on this deal in the last couple of hours and I’m told that they have no intention of walking away without Enzo.
“I think we will get positive news very soon on this. Final meetings soon to be concluded. Not a done deal yet.”
How has Fernandez played this season?
Fernandez played in all seven of Argentina’s games during their successful World Cup campaign, scoring one goal and providing a single assist for his teammates.
The South American star has also shone for Benfica during his brief time at the club, racking up 11 goal contributions in 29 outings for the Eagles, helping them climb to the top of the Primeira Liga standings.
Chelsea now face a race against time to make Fernandez their player for the second half of the season and end January’s biggest transfer saga at the same time.