Chelsea are yet to convince Benfica to sell midfielder Enzo Fernandez for a whopping €120 million, according to reports.
The Argentina international only joined the Portuguese club from River Plate last summer, but shot to stardom by winning the World Cup last month and claiming the tournament’s Best Young Player award.
Recent reports said that the Blues were on the brink of sealing a club-record deal for Fernandez on transfer deadline day.
The January transfer window closes at 11pm tonight for Premier League sides.
Fabrizio Romano’s latest update isn’t a promising one for Chelsea, as he says that Benfica president Rui Costa is yet to agree to a €120m (£105m) sale.
The Stamford Bridge club were hoping for a breakthrough overnight, but that hasn’t happened and they will continue to push for an agreement as the clock ticks down towards the deadline.
The eye-watering figure would be the biggest ever spent by Chelsea, with their previous transfer record standing at £97.5m for Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan in 2021.
It would also set a new British transfer record, currently held by Manchester City’s £100m move for Jack Grealish the same year.
Chelsea have already been incredibly busy in the market this month, bringing in seven new faces.
Benoit Badiashile was first to join, before David Datro Fofana and Andrey Santos arrived.
Joao Felix then moved to London on loan, before the headline capture of Mykhaylo Mudryk.
Noni Madueke and Malo Gusto have both signed for the two-time Champions League winners, too.
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Declan Rice has reportedly agreed to join Arsenal this summer, with the West Ham midfielder also a transfer target for Chelsea.
Chelsea have reopened talks over a move for Enzo Fernandez, whom they were linked with at the start of January.
But the Blues look set to be beaten by Liverpool to the signature of Wolves star Matheus Nunes this summer.
