According to famous reporter David Ornstein from TA, Manchester City have reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign midfielder Enzo Fernandez for £125million.

David Ornstein:

Manchester City have reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign midfielder Enzo Fernandez for £125million.

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 late in the transfer window.

City’s deal for Fernandez brings to an end what has been a drawn-out saga surrounding the 25-year-old and his future at Chelsea.

The west London club had indicated on August 14 that they expected Fernandez to stay for the 2026-27 season after their self-imposed deadline passed without City making a bid.

Chelsea valued Fernandez at £120m and insisted at the time that if they did not receive an offer of that figure inside the outlined timeframe, he would not leave the club this summer.

The west London club said that their terms were communicated to City and Fernandez’s camp, and said his representatives had been made aware of their valuation since May.

However, The Athletic reported on Monday that City had turned their focus to Fernandez after their pursuit of Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo ended with the Merseyside club rejecting a bid of up to £80m, and a deal has now been agreed.

Fernandez was booed by supporters at Stamford Bridge during the club’s final pre-season friendly against Real Sociedad and again in the opening Premier League game at Fulham. He ended the match by going down the tunnel without joining his team-mates in front of the away support at full-time and did not feature in either of the following games, against Luton Town in the Carabao Cup or Brighton & Hove Albion in the league on Sunday.

Fernandez joined Chelsea from Benfica for a then British transfer record of £106.8m in January 2023 and has a contract with the club until 2032.

He cast doubt over his Chelsea future on multiple occasions during the latter stages of the 2025-26 campaign, culminating in former head coach Liam Rosenior dropping him for two games in April.

Fernandez’s agent, former Argentina international Javier Pastore, told The Athletic that the punishment was “completely unfair”. He later apologised and returned to the squad.

The Athletic reported in April that City were considering Fernandez as a midfield option this summer. The club have already signed England 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 Saudi Arabian side Al Qadsiah, while Tottenham Hotspur have signed Savio and Omar Marmoush.

Fernandez 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.

Fernandez has made 170 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 31 goals and providing 30 assists.

(END OF THE ARTICLE)

According to Gaston Edul, Enzo Fernández is undergoing the medical examinations to join Manchester City.